The Other
by PrincessSparkles CaptainOats
Summary: This is the end, the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you!
1. Lilly

Ephram loved Amy; there was no doubt about that. The fact was, eight weeks was a long time for a teenager. He would never want to hurt her, but it was so hard. It hurt him that he could feel this way for someone who wasn't Amy or Madison. He expected to be miserable after Amy left for New York, but instead he was happy. Ephram met a girl, her name was Lilly. Lilly was so different from all his other girlfriends. She was simple and she just wanted to be with him. She wasn't perfect, but he had fun with her. Unlike Amy, she didn't have any emotional baggage. Unlike Madison, she didn't think she was better then him. They were equal.  
They met the day that Amy left New York. Ephram was on his way to his hotel room to sulk, and when he got on the elevator, she was there. She had long dark hair and wasn't very tall. She was very pretty, but not a classic beauty. She had confidence, which is what made her spectacular. Ephram couldn't help but stare. She was in the Julliard Program also. They got to talking and became instant friends. He asked her if she wanted coffee, and they talked a little more. Ephram had almost forgotten Amy left. That is what intrigued him about Lilly. She made him forget his trouble.  
It started out as a few innocent meetings, just as friends. Lilly knew about Amy and didn't want to get Ephram in trouble. Then he finally got the nerve to ask her on a date. The date went well and pretty soon, they were the cutest couple in the program. One night while Ephram gave Lilly a tour, they shared their first kiss on Time Square. Ephram fell in love with her that night. That was what worried him.  
One night while in his room, Ephram was thinking about Amy. Lilly walked in and wrapped her arms around his shoulder. Without asking she knew what he was thinking of. They had two days left and then Ephram had to go back to Everwood and she had to go back to Georgia. Amy would be waiting for him and he would have to tell her what went on. It would be difficult. She didn't know how this would all end. They might never see each other again. They sat in silence for a while until finally Ephram said something. "Come back to Everwood with me." Ephram had been thinking about how happy Lilly had made him. Why would he give that up? Plus, it might make it easier to have support in telling Amy. "Are you serious?" Lilly was so happy. For some reason she never thought that she could go. "I would love to. Just let me tell my parents." "They won't mind?" Ephram was getting excited. "Yeah, right, like they would care if I was prostituting myself." Lilly skipped out of the room to call her parents right when Ephram's phone rang. It was Amy. "Hey, what are you doing?" said Amy, oblivious to the fact of what was about to happen. "Hey, nothing, I was just studying. What are you doing?" Ephram said trying not to talk loudly. He didn't want Lilly to hear. "Oh, I was just swimming. I miss swimming. I can't believe I will be able to see you in two days! This will be so great. I'm planning a party for you. To make you feel welcome. Oh, that was supposed to be a surprise. I'm sorry. Can you pretend to be surprised?" "Surprised about what?" he joked. "Thanks. Oh, Bright wants to talk to you." "Hey dude, what's up?" said Bright as he grabbed the phone from his sister. "Nothing, I was just studying." Said Ephram while flipping through some papers. "That's my boy. Studying while he could be getting' some. That is wonderful." Ephram rolled his eyes at this comment. Bright always had a way with words. Right then Lilly came in. "My parents said it was okay!" she shouted. "Who is that?" said Bright over the phone. His voice had gotten suddenly serious. "Dude, I said who is that?" Ephram could hear Amy on the other line asking what was going on. "It was just a neighbor; she was talking to a friend or something." Ephram lied. He could see the hurt look in Lilly's eyes. He wanted to tell Bright everything, but he knew all that would do would get him a black eye. "Thank God. I was afraid you were gettin' some." Bright sighed. "Listen buddy I've got to go. I have a big performance tomorrow." Ephram said. "Okay buddy. See you in two days." Bright said and then hung up the phone. Ephram hung up too. He motioned for Lilly to come over and she came and sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned on him. Lilly started to silently cry and Ephram held her closer. This was going to be a long winter. 


	2. The Ring

Andy scrambled to get the house clean. Ephram would be home in two days and he would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that the house falls apart when he leaves. The phone rang and Andy rant to find it. "Hello?" he said after he found it in the refrigerator.

"Hey dad," Ephram said.

"Ephram, I wasn't expecting your call. Is there anything wrong?"

Andy was so happy to hear from his son. No matter how much the fought, he still considered Ephram his best friend.

"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to ask if it was okay if I brought a friend back to Everwood with me?" Andy noticed some nervousness in Ephram's voice.

"Yeah sure, I'll set up the guest room up for him. How long is he planning to stay?"

"She is planning to stay for about a month,"

"She? Ephram, explain yourself," Andy was getting worried. First Madison and now this? Andy could feel a migraine coming on.

"Listen, I would love to Dad, but I really have to go. See ya," Ephram turned off the phone quickly. He hated being deceitful...No he didn't. He loved it. It was what made his teenage years fun. But recently his dad had gotten to where he could stand him. He hated that bond that had taken so long to grow between them. He hated to admit that he actually had other feelings (besides hate) for his father. Not the kind with him and Lilly, but like that beaver family on TV a long time ago. Lilly walked into the room and sat on his bed.

"Hey, you look like you just ate your dad's cooking," Laughed Lilly.

Ephram chuckled a little. Why did he invite her to Everwood? It would have been so much easier if she could have just gone back home.

"If you don't want me to come, I can still go home. I won't be terribly upset," Lilly said. She was lying, but she knew to hide that from him. She didn't want to make him feel pressured.

"I want you to come. I just am going to be given a bad time about it," said Ephram. He got up from his chair and straddled her on the bed. Lilly laughed as she looked up at him. "I love you," he said.

Lilly was taken back. He hadn't said that yet. She knew he loved her, but she had never herd him say that. She added this to the list of things that give you endorphins. "I love you, too," she said back.

She looked into his eyes as he leaned closer and kissed her. He leaned in closer so that they were laying down on the bed. Ephram reached for Lilly's pants but she pushed him away.

"I love you, but I'm not ready for sex. I don't want to have sex and you can't force me to," She said pushing him off of her.

"Of course, no pressure. I just, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry," Said Ephram, afraid that he had upset her. He did not want to loose his only normal girlfriend.

"It's okay. I just don't like feeling pressured. I love you," she said looking into his eyes. She loved saying that. Ephram smiled and leaned in again. This time he just kissed her. They made out for a while and then they looked at the time, it was late. They went out for pizza since they were starving. They met up with a few other people in the program and went to see a movie. Ladies choice, so it was Vanhelsing (Hugh Jackman without a shirt? What's not to like?). Ephram didn't mind it so much, since it was fantasy with lots of action. During the previews, Ephram and Lilly found themselves making out again. When the movie was over they all went back to the hotel. Lilly spent the night in Ephram's room. They didn't do anything, they just talked and Lilly fell asleep on Ephram's shoulder. When they woke up the next morning, they had to go to different classes. Lilly was in the program because of dancing, and Ephram for piano. When the day was over, Lilly was tired and so she went to sleep on the couch in Ephram's room while he practiced. At seven he finally stopped. He turned around and noticed that Lilly was asleep and gently woke her up.

"Lilly, we need to go pack okay?" He nudged her quietly as she woke up and smiled at him. "Let me get your suitcase ready. You try to wake up," Ephram went into Lilly's room and got her suitcases out. He packed all of her things that he could find and then at the very top he left a present. A little ring with a tiny diamond. It was all he could afford, but it was still beautiful. Lilly finally walked into the room holding two cups of coffee. She handed Ephram one as he zipped up her suitcase. He took it and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"You didn't have to do that. I'm not cripple," she laughed while she sat on her bed.

"Why don't you check to see if I have everything. I don't want to leave something," he said with a look of anticipation on his face.

"Okay," she said putting her coffee down. She wondered why he was acting so strange. She slowly opened the suitcase and saw the ring. She was so shocked. She started to cry and hug Ephram. He hugged her back. He knew women well enough to know that crying after getting a gift is a good thing. "It's so beautiful, thank you," she said hugging him tighter.

"You're welcome. I wanted to show you that I really loved you, but this was all I could afford," he said kissing her I the head.

"As long as it doesn't turn my finger green I'm fine," she joked pulling him in and kissing him on the lips. Ephram went to go finish packing himself and Lilly picked up around the room

She then herd Ephram's cell phone, he had left it in her room. She went to answer it.

"Hello?" she said and then realized what she had done. What if it was Amy or Bright?

"Who is this?" said a very feminine voice.

"I'm maid can I help you?" Lilly lied, but she didn't want Ephram in trouble.

"Why are you answering Ephram Brown's phone?" she asked suspiciously.

"He asked me to pick it up if any one called, he had to shower," Lilly felt her face getting red.

"Well could you tell him that Amy called and she wants him to call back as soon as possible," Amy said.

She sounded very arrogant and selfish. Lilly never told Ephram that's what she thought of her, but that's how she felt when she herd that she asked Ephram to not go to New York. That really pissed her off. "Will do, any thing else?" she said.

"No, thank you," Amy hung up the phone and went back to whatever in the world she was doing. Ephram walked in the room as she hung up the phone.

"Did you order pizza or something?" he asked noticing she had used his phone.

"No, Amy called. She wants you to call her back," Ephram got kind of tense as she told him this.

"Did, you say who you were?" he asked.

"No, I know I'm just your little secret that you don't want anyone to know about. Who, in your family, really knows about me Ephram? I hate to bring this up, but I'm tired of being hidden," Lilly left the room as she started to cry.

Ephram sat on the bed and thought about what she had said. She was right, she would hate if she did that to him. He had actually spoken to Lilly's parents, they were okay but they could care less about what their daughter did as long as it didn't mess with their busy schedule. Ephram picked up the phone and started to dial Amy's number. It rang once and then he heard Amy's voice. "Hello?" said Amy as she picked up the phone.

"Hey, it's me. We need to talk..."


	3. Amy

"That self-centered, pig headed, ass hole! That jack ass! What the hell is wrong with him? When I left, he said he loved me and he always would, and now he is in love with a Lilly! I don't get it! What is wrong with me?" Amy shouted at Bright after receiving Ephram's phone call.

Bright sat in silence. He wasn't really listening to Amy. He just couldn't get over what Ephram did. He thought Ephram was cool, not like himself, who on any given day would cheat on a girl. He felt betrayed, like Ephram had cheated on him. Well in a sense he had. He promised he would touch no girls while up there, and he did anyway.

"Why would he do this to me? The party is off, I just can't believe he would do that. I can't believe I would love him," Amy just sat on her bed and started to cry. Bright was so sick of the way she was acting.

"You are calling him self-centered? No wonder he cheated on you. You are so selfish you actually asked him to not go to New York, something he had wanted so bad he couldn't see straight. You are such a bitch I'm surprised he could see any good in you. I just wish you could just stop asking what he did to you, and think about how this hurt him or me. At least he had the balls to tell you and not go behind your back. Yeah, I'm mad as hell that he did this, and I'm going to tell him, but at least I'm not throwing accusations at him when he is across the country," Bright stormed out of the room and slammed Amy's door.

Amy fumed and paced in her room. _How dare he tell me that. I am not self- centered. I am allowed to think of myself from time to time. I deserve to worry about myself. He cheated on me! Does that mean nothing to her former brother?_ She thought.

Back in New York Ephram hung up the phone with his dad. He took a big sigh and hung his head. Just then Lilly walked back in to apologize.

"What's wrong?" said Lilly when she saw Ephram's face.

"I told then, Amy and Dad. I told them about you. Dad is actually pleased and Amy is...well she's Amy. I should call Bright and see how he is. Amy has probably already told him though," Ephram sighed.

Lilly came over to comfort him a little but Ephram pushed her away. "I just need to be alone. Bright is probably going to be worse then Amy. He'll be quiet,"

Lilly understood, and left him alone.

Ephram dialed the number and waited a while for a voice.

"Hello?" on the other line was Bright's familiar voice. He was unhappy, but he was trying to keep it to himself.

"Hey, it's me," Ephram sighed and waited for the worst. Bright sighed and there was silence for a while.

"What do you want?" he asked after a while. "I know Amy has told you and I didn't want to not call you and talk about it. Just yell at me all you want," Ephram held the phone from his ear a little ways.

"I'm not going to yell at you. I can forgive you, but Amy won't. I really don't care what Amy thinks though, I am so pissed at her right now," said Bright in a calm voice.

"Don't be mad at Amy, it isn't her fault. I'm a jackass, enough said," Ephram was so surprised Bright wasn't mad.

"It is her fault! She is an egotistical bitch and I hate her!" said Bright, obviously trying to say it loud enough for Amy to hear it. "Hey, can I talk to Lilly? That is her name right?"

"Um...Sure. Let me get her," Ephram got up and tried to find Lilly. She was in the kitchen making some cookies she had bought.

"Bright wants to talk to you," Ephram whispered to Lilly.

The look on her face was priceless. She looked like a little kid getting caught doing something wrong.

"It's okay, he's fine," he assured her. Hesitantly Lilly took the phone from Ephram.

"Hello?" she said expecting a huge voice to yell at her.

"Hey, how are you this evening?" he asked in his most cheerful voice.

"I'm fine, how are you?" She hadn't expected this.

"I've been better. I just wanted to tell you that Ephram is a great guy and you made a great choice. Welcome to the family. Now if I do you a favor you do me one, okay?" Bright joked in his awful Italian accent.

Lilly laughed and they had a small conversation and then she gave the phone back to Ephram.

"Listen, she is a great girl. You are so lucky. Treat her right, okay?" Bright said as Ephram got the phone back.

"I know. I need to go. Bye,"

"Adios!" Bright shouted back. Ephram hung up the phone and looked over at Lilly.

"Wow," he said. "I never expected that. He was happy,"

Ephram smiled over the phone and then put it down. He walked over to Lilly and wrapped his arms around her waist and watched her smile. He leaned in and kissed her and she kissed back. He lifted her up and put her on the counter and started to nibble her neck. Lilly let out a little giggle as his hand slid up across her ticklish stomach. He slowly started to lower his kisses, making then go down into her cleavage. Lilly started to get a little nervous and pushed him away.

"No, I don't want to do this. I'm not ready okay?" Lilly said when their eyes met.

"It's okay, I will wait for as long as you want. Only when you are ready," he said. She pulled him close in an embrace and wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her over to the couch and they made out until they realized Lilly's cookies were ready. While eating the cookies they watched Lilly's favorite old movie, Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien. They fell asleep in each others arms, and in the morning, they got ready to go to Everwood.


	4. Everwood

"Why isn't Amy and Ephram dating anymore Dad?" Delia asked while on the way to the airport to pick up Ephram. She could hardly wait. She hadn't seen her brother in eight weeks and now he was almost there.

"Ephram met another girl. He fell really hard for her and she is coming to visit," said Andy. He hadn't actually gone over the details with Delia. He was very shocked when Ephram told him the news last night. He never could believe that Ephram would turn down Amy. He was very proud.

They finally pulled up to the bus station and Bright, to is surprise, was already waiting. He didn't know that Bright was okay with Lilly and Ephram. He thought that maybe Ephram hadn't told him yet. "Hello Bright, how are you?" said Andy when he walked up to Bright.

"Never better. How 'bout you?" Bright was so excited to see his friend. It had been eight weeks and now he was almost here.

"I've seen better days, but I'm okay,"

"Bright! Did you here about Lilly?" said Delia when she caught up to them.

"Delia!" Andy was so embarrassed.

"Yeah, I actually got to talk to her last night. She is really nice. She's coming too right?" asked Bright.

"Yeah, you know they're dating right?" asked Andy.

"Of course. Why else would Ephram bring her home? So he can make fun of her?" laughed Bright.

Andy just shook his head, that boy was way too weird. Finally Ephram's bus pulled up. Andy got a little nervous. Andy and Bright were both worried that Ephram would come off the bus with a slut of some type. But instead, Lilly came out. Andy, who was old enough to be her dad, thought she was beautiful. Bright let out a low whistle, and Delia stood with her mouth open. Ephram ran over and gave Delia a hug and lifted her into the air.

"I missed you so much," He whispered into his sister's hair.

"I missed you, too," said Delia. Ephram set her down and walked over and shook Bright's hand. When he got to his dad he gave him a hug.

"Let me introduce you to Lilly," he said "Lilly, this is Delia, Bright, and Andy, my dad,"

"Nice to meet you," she said nodding to each of them.

"Nice to meet you," they all said together. They all walked over to the car and made their way home. Andy and Delia sat up front and Lilly and Ephram in the back.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" asked Andy, trying to break the awkward silence.

"I don't know, maybe we could just hang out somewhere," said Ephram to Lilly.

"I was kind of hoping to spend time with you Ephram. We haven't seen you in two months," said Andy.

"I was wanting to get to know your family Ephram. Delia, what is your favorite game?" asked Lilly. She sensed tension between Andy and Ephram.

"I like The Sims on the computer. It's when you make a family and control it," said Delia. She really liked Lilly. Lilly was interested in Delia not just Ephram.

"I've played that before. I love that game. I have some cheats if you want some," responded Lilly. She wanted to bond with Delia, or else she would be completely alone in Everwood. Ephram was great company, but if you spend every waking hour with someone, you begin to hate them.

"Really? What kind of cheats?" said Delia.

"One to get more money and one to make your person feel completely better. With those cheats I could play for hours," said Lilly.

They talked for the whole ride about movies and books. Ephram watched while she got into what she was talking about. She looked so sexy. When they made it to the house Ephram and Andy carried all the bags in.

"Lilly seems like a really nice girl Ephram. I'm happy for you," said Andy as they set up the room for Lilly.

"Thanks, I think so too. I love her Dad. She makes me feel happy and special. I just want to hold her forever. Did you feel that way about Mom?" asked Ephram.

"Yes, she always knew how to make me feel better about myself," said Andy. Ephram and Andy finished fixing the room and putting up Lilly's things. They walked down stairs and sat on the couch.

"Ephram, we need to talk," said Andy. "Have you and Lilly been having sex?"

"No," said Ephram, "She wants to wait. I want to respect her, so I am waiting. Is waiting always this hard?" asked Ephram. He was actually enjoying a conversation with is dad. Maybe it was because he was talking about his girlfriend and he wanted to brag about her.

"Yes, but it is worth it. If you wait until the best moment, it is really special.," said Andy.

Ephram just laughed. "I'm going to see Lilly," Ephram got up and left to find Lilly. He went in the back yard and saw Lilly dancing. Delia had a Clay Aiken song playing and Ephram rolled his eyes. Even with the music, Lilly looked so sexy.

"Ephram!" Lilly shouted and ran and jumped into is arms.

"Why are you so happy to see me?" he asked.

"I love you, and I'm so happy here. It is so beautiful. I love your family, I could stay here forever," she said to Ephram.

Ephram leaned in and kissed her on the lips and he set her down. "Delia, do mind if I steal your new friend?" asked Ephram.

"Okay, just come back soon," said Delia kind of disappointed.

Ephram led her into the woods. They walked for a while in silence until they found this beautiful spot in the middle of the woods. It was a small clearing with a tree trunk and flowers growing wildly everywhere.

"This is so beautiful!" said Lilly sitting down on the tree trunk. Ephram sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Lilly looked around and smiled. "I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. I love it here. You are so lucky,"

"I know, at first I hated it here, then it just became home. I made friends or a friend, then I liked it so much more," Ephram said recalling his first few days in Everwood.

Lilly turned around and kissed him and he took his other arm and pulled her closer. He lead her down to the ground they started to roll around. She grabbed at his shirt and struggled to get it off and he pulled at her skirt. Then she pushed him away.

"Okay, no more, I'm stopping," said Ephram pulling away.

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what comes over me. I love you so much, I just can't control myself. But somewhere a little voice tells me to stop," she looked up at Ephram. She had to stop doing this to him. She loved him and didn't want him to be so upset.

"It's fine, let's go look around town, okay?" said Ephram after a while.

They made their way out of the woods and they wandered over town. Ephram was having a blast. He was able to show off his beautiful girlfriend and she didn't care. She let him hold her and kiss her. They stopped at a book stare to see if they had a book Lilly was crazy about. They didn't, but she still had fun looking. They decided to pick up a movie for Delia that night so they could watch something together. They picked out Cheaper by the Dozen, much to Ephram's disgust, but Lilly hadn't seen it and Delia was a Hillary Duff fan. Then while checking out Amy walked into the store.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," said Amy to Ephram. "Oh and look at it's little friend. Why did you bring her? Are you trying to hurt me? I thought you were better then that,"

"Amy, please don't be angry with me. I just can't explain what happened. It just did. Please leave me alone," with that Ephram and Lilly left. Amy stood there for a while and tried not to cry and then she went to go get her movie.

"I guess that was Amy," said Lilly when they left the store. "I'm sorry I ruined your relationship. I guess you hate me right now huh?" Ephram laughed and kissed her on the mouth.

"I am glad you are here. I would love you if you killed me. Don't let Amy get to you. She always tries to put me through guilt trips. I won't let it work anymore." Lilly smiled and they walked back home, holding hands the whole way.


	5. The Dream

"Do you y'all have any ice-cream?" asked Lilly as she went into the kitchen to find snacks for the movie.  
"Yeah, it's in the freezer," said Ephram who was fixing up their seats for the movie.  
"Oh okay, I found it," said Lilly as she pulled out the ice-cream. She got three bowls for them to eat out of and spooned the ice-cream in.  
"I can't believe I'm going to watch a Hillary Duff movie. I think the world is coming to an end," said Ephram as he got out a big blanket.  
"It's not that bad. And you will not complain. The minute you complain I will eat all of your ice-cream and I will break your piano," said Lilly as Delia walked in.  
"Is the movie ready?" said Delia. She had ran to get her pajamas on and had her hair ready to be put up, Lilly said she would braid it for her.  
"Not yet sweetie. Did you get a brush?" said Lilly while putting up the ice-cream.  
"Yes, do you like it? I got it at Claire's," Delia held up a cute brush in the shape of a purse.  
"Oh that is so cute! How do you brush with it?" asked Lilly taking it from her.  
"You hold the purse handle and brush."  
"That is so neat. I want one," she said over to Ephram and he laughed.  
They took their ice-cream and went to sit on the couch. Lilly sat in between Ephram and Delia. Ephram wrapped his arms around Lilly's waist and occasionally kissed her neck. Ephram actually enjoyed the movie, mostly because of who he was watching it with though. When the movie was over they all made their way to bed. Ephram first showed Lilly around her room.  
"Hey, this will be the first night in like two weeks were we don't sleep in the same room. I'll miss you," Lilly said as Ephram left the room.  
"I'll miss you too, but you know I'm only down the hall and you could get lost going to the bathroom and end up in my room," said Ephram with a sly smile.  
"I'll think about it okay?" said Lilly as Ephram leaned in and kissed her. "Good night, Ephram,"  
"Good night," he kissed her nose and went to his room.  
  
Ephram woke to a telephone ring. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was five in the morning. Ephram cursed under his breathe and picked up the phone.  
"Hello?" he said.  
"Hello, may I speak to Lilly please?" said an older woman's voice.  
"Yes, who is this?" Ephram puzzled.  
"This is her mother, how are you Ephram?" she said.  
"I'm fine, let me get Lilly for you," Ephram stumbled out of bed and went to find Lilly. She was asleep still and he hated to wake her. "Can you call back later? She is still asleep,"  
"What is she doing asleep at this hour? She should be awake,"  
"It's five in the morning," groaned Ephram.  
"Oh, I forgot about time zones. Well I'll call later, but I just haven't heard from her yet and I miss her so much. I was really hoping to talk to her," she sighed.  
Ephram sighed and decided to wake Lilly up. Her mother sounded near to tears. "Hold on a second, I'll get her," Ephram walked over to her bed and slowly nudged her. She groaned and rolled over.  
"What?" she said angrily.  
"Your mom is on the phone, she wants to talk to you," said Ephram.  
Lilly grabbed the phone and Ephram left the room. He went back to his room to see if he could sleep, but he couldn't. He got back up and went down to the kitchen to see if they had any food. He gave up looking and went to sit on the couch. He turned on a movie, Meet Me in St. Louis, that Lilly had brought. Ephram had found himself liking things he never thought he would after he met Lilly. He never thought he would watch an old movie and enjoy it. He found himself singing along to the songs and smiling when John Truit, the next door neighbor, kissed Ester, Judy Garland.  
Lilly made her way down stairs and sat next to Ephram. They watched the movie together in silence, and when it was over Lilly went to make breakfast. When she got up she was surprised to see a blonde woman standing there making it for her.  
"I love that movie. Hi I'm Nina, the neighbor," said Nina.  
"Hi, I'm Lilly, the girlfriend," Lilly laughed nervously. She wasn't used to people coming in without knocking.  
"Hi, are you the one with great taste in movies," she said as she got fresh bread out of her bag.  
"Yeah, I love that movie it is so sweet. My favorite sister would have to be Tootie," said Lilly starting to help Nina unload the bag.  
"Oh, no contest, but who is your favorite boyfriend, Warren or John?" asked Nina. She loved having a woman to talk to. Even though Lilly wasn't a woman, she was still more female then Andy.  
"John, even though I loved Warren's proposal," laughed Lilly.  
Nina and Lilly finished breakfast together and woke the rest of the family. Nina woke Sam and they all ate together.  
"What did your mom say?" asked Ephram while they ate.  
Lilly got a little quiet. "Well, I told her about how much I love it and she hates Georgia, so she is coming to visit,"  
"Really? I finally get meet your mom," said Ephram. He got a little nervous, he knew her mom would be hard to please. From what Lilly told him, he was not as impressive as all of her other boyfriends. She would never say that, but he knew it. One boyfriend had a full scholarship to Yale and another joined the Peace Corp recently.  
"It'll be okay, she will love you," said Lilly sensing his tension. "And don't worry Dr. Brown, she is staying in a hotel,"  
"Well I'm glad I'll get to meet your mom, this will be great. When will she be here?" asked Andy.  
"In two days," she said.  
"Wow, that's soon," said Nina.  
"That's Mom," said Lilly.  
After they all finished their breakfast, Ephram and Lilly went shopping. Lilly couldn't wait to scope out the local music stores. They went in and Lilly found two CDs that she liked and bought them. They also found a small clothing store and went in for a look. Ephram was bored off his feat, but he stayed and didn't complain, because Lilly was having fun.  
After she bought some clothes, they went back home. On the way home, Ephram caught sight of what he thought was Madison.  
"Can you hold on a second?" he said to Lilly. He wanted to say hello to Madison, he knew that she would be happy that he was back, and he was over her now. He wanted to be friends.  
"Hey, long time no see!" said Ephram as he taped on her shoulder.  
Madison turned around to see Ephram. She knew he was back and she was glad to see him, but yet she didn't want to see him. It would have made what was going on so much easier. "Hey Ephram," she said unhappily. She tried to hide it, but she couldn't, she was so unhappy.  
"Madison, what's wrong?" said Ephram seeing her discontent.  
"Nothing's wrong, why would you say that?" said Madison putting on a fake smile.  
Ephram's heart hurt to look at her. She was so sad about something, he hated that she wouldn't say what. "Something is wrong, just tell me. I know you, you can't hide,"  
Madison exhaled sharply. She wanted to tell him so badly. It would make it so much easier, to have someone to go through this with. "I need to go. Nice to see you again Ephram," Madison left and Ephram walked back over to Lilly, who had been watching from where she was originally.  
"Was that Madison?" she asked, kind of hurt. She didn't want Ephram not to have any friends, but why her? She was so beautiful, she could never compete with her.  
"Yeah, Something is wrong with her, I think she is upset about something. Whatever it is, she won' tell me," Ephram said. He was angry, he thought she would tell him, they used to be friends. Relationships messed everything up, he thought ironically while he put his arm around Lilly's shoulder.  
They walked home together in silence. Lilly started to think about sex with Ephram. She always wanted to wait, but she knew Madison and Ephram slept together. He could go back to Madison if he wanted to sleep with someone, since she wouldn't. Did she want a boyfriend that would leave her to sleep with someone, or pressure her to sleep with him. She was so afraid to loose him, he was the best boyfriend she had ever had. The other guys she dated were not like Ephram, they would ignore her in public, and they would always stare at other girls. Ephram seemed to be proud of her, and he would show her off whenever possible. He never really looked at other girls, which made her feel special, like all he wanted was her. She had to make her decision, would she sleep with Ephram, and if so when?  
When they got home Andy and Delia were on the couch watching A Walk to Remember. Lilly joined them, but Ephram went to bed. He sat on his bed thinking and finally he fell asleep. He had a dream that Lilly and him were walking down the beach hand in hand. At the end of the beach was Madison, and she was pregnant. 


	6. A Decision

Ephram woke up quickly. He never considered pregnancy. They had been safe, she couldn't be. It was just a dream, he had to keep telling himself. He laid his head back on the pillow and looked over at the clock. It was one in the morning, he would never get back to sleep. He walked down stairs and watched old movies on TV all night. Around seven in the morning Andy came and sat next to him  
"Good Morning," said Andy. "Why so early?"  
"Couldn't sleep, I had a really weird dream," said Ephram starting to feel drowsy.  
"What happened?" asked Andy slumping in his seat and watching whatever Ephram was watching.  
"Lilly and I were walking down the beach and then at the end of the beach was Madison, and she was pregnant. I just couldn't sleep well after that,"  
Andy tensed up. Why would he dream that? "hat's weird, why would you dream that?"  
"I saw Madison yesterday and she acted funny. I guess my head was just looking for reasons or something,"  
Before Andy could respond Lilly had come down stairs. She had also had trouble sleeping, but she stayed in her room. She had made her decision about sex. She wanted to sleep with Ephram, she was going to do what she wanted. She just had to find a way to tell Ephram. She felt uneasy about her decision, not that she didn't want to, it was just the fact that she was going to have sex.  
"Morning," she said stretching a little. She walked over and sat in Ephram's lap. Ephram wrapped his arms around her waist. Andy was uncomfortable with them like this, especially since he really didn't believe they hadn't had sex yet.  
"Morning," said Ephram, he was finally starting to feel relaxed and he was dosing off.  
Ephram finally fell asleep on the couch and Lilly crawled out of his arms. She went into the kitchen to heat up the breakfast from yesterday and Andy followed to help her.  
"Lilly can I ask you something?" asked Andy, he was nervous and his hands were sweating.  
"Shoot," Lilly cheerfully stuck everything in the microwave.  
"I asked Ephram the same thing but he said that you hadn't. Have you and Ephram had sex?"  
"No, I wanted to wait," said Lilly, who was now getting nervous.  
Andy felt a little more relieved. Some how he trusted Lilly much more than Ephram. Maybe it was in her face, she had a trusting face, like Julia.  
After breakfast they woke Ephram. He ate and then Lilly took him out for a walk. They walked until they found their clearing and Ephram sat on the log. Lilly paced back and forth, she knew now was te time to tell him.  
"What's wrong?" Ephram asked after watching her for a while.  
"I need to tell you something," Lilly said when she stopped. She tried to act cool, like she was one hundred percent sure of her decision. "I've been thinking and I think it is time we had sex,"  
Ephram was taken back. It wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just he wasn't sure they would ever have sex. "Are you sure this is what you want?"  
Lilly looked at him and said what she didn't think she would say. "No, this isn't what I want,"  
"Then you don't have to. Why would you change your mind about this?" Ephram stood up and cupped her face in his hands.  
"Madison,"  
"What?"  
"I thought since you and Madison slept together you would leave me for her, since I wouldn't," said Lilly.  
Ephram just leaned in and kissed her. "I would never leave you for Madison, I love you. I thought I loved Madison, but she didn't return that love. I know I love you, and you return my love. I don't want to push you to do something you don't want,"  
They made their way to town and Lilly went to pick something out for her mother. They looked forever until they finally found the perfect gift, it was a little glass jar in the shape of a castle filled with sand and seashells, Since her mother loved the beach and collected things like that. They walked over to Bright's house so they could see if he wanted to come over.  
"Do you want me to wait over there?" asked Lilly when Ephram knocked on the door.  
"Would you mind?" he asked, he was nervous about anyone else but Bright opening the door.  
Lilly understood and walked over by the street where they couldn't see her. Ephram knocked on the door. Harold opened the door and scowled down at Ephram. He never liked him, and now he had hurt Amy.  
"What do you want?" he said.  
"Can I speak to Bright, please?" Ephram felt out of place and guilty just standing there.  
Harold rolled his eyes and went to find Bright. He couldn't believe Bright would still talk to Ephram, he couldn't believe he talked to him originally.  
"Bright, you have a visitor," he said when he found Bright in his room.  
Bright went down stairs and saw Ephram standing there. "Hey, what's up?" he couldn't believe Ephram came, knowing that everyone but Bright hated his guts.  
"Nothing, just wanted to see if you want to walk with me and Lilly," he said.  
"Sure, lets go," Bright yelled into the house that he would be back later and he took off with Ephram.  
Amy stood in the stair case looking down at Ephram. She hated him coming to her house, like he was welcome. She hated him. She wished he would leave her alone. Then why did she wish every night that he would come back to her? She started to cry and ran back up to her room. He had told her they would be together, finally, after all that time. Then he goes off with that tramp. Amy found her favorite CD and put it in her stereo. She went over to her computer and turned it on. She hadn't been on the computer since Ephram left her, so there was still a picture of her and Ephram on the opening screen of the computer. She immediately replaced it with a picture of her latest favorite singer, Clay Aiken. She got bored after a while and just went down stairs. Over the past year she had lost all of her friends. So there was only Bright and Ephram. Now they were both gone. She flipped the channels and found nothing on. She just turned off the TV and started to cry.  
After Bright went home Lilly and Ephram went home. Lilly started to clean and get ready for her mother. She vacuumed, polished, and picked up all of Delia's toys that she had left out. By the end of the day she was exhausted and she put in another movie she had brought with her, Easter Parade. Ephram came and sat with her, and soon the whole family joined them. Ephram smiled thinking of how his family had opened up to her so well. Would her family do the same for him? He pushed the thought aside and just enjoyed the movie. Lilly had fallen asleep in Ephram's arms, so when the move was over Ephram carried her to bed. As he left the room he stopped and watched her in the doorway. He loved the way she slept and the way she looked so at ease. He smiled and went to bed. He dreamed the same thing he had the night before, only this time, Madison approached him and told him that he was the father. 


	7. Linda

Ephram woke in a cold sweat. He sighed deeply and laid back down. He looked over at the clock and it was two in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and rolled over.  
"I can't sleep either," said Lilly who appeared at his door.  
Ephram jumped and then smiled. "You scared me," he said while pulling back his covers to let her in.  
She crawled in next to him and snuggled against his body, laying her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his head on Lilly's head. They laid there in silence for a while, just enjoying each others presence.  
"So why couldn't you sleep?" asked Ephram after a while.  
"I can't stop obsessing over my mom coming today. I just know she is going to hate it and leave and make me come with her,"  
"If you want me to I could leave and get you a perfect boyfriend with a perfect family and then she might stay," said Ephram, kind of hoping she would say okay. He didn't want the pressure of Lilly's mother.  
"No, I want her to meet you. She will love you. And if she doesn't, she'll have to get over it, because I love you," Lilly said leaning up o kiss him.  
They started to kiss a little more and Ephram ran his hand through her hair. Lilly rolled over so Ephram was lying on top of her. He grabbed her pajama top and took it off. He slowly ran his hand up her side and she trembled. But Ephram stopped; he knew this wasn't what Lilly wanted. She looked up at him and he grabbed her shirt, and put it back on.  
"Thank you," she said after he had laid back down.  
"It's okay," Ephram said as Lilly cuddled back up to him.  
They talked for the rest of the night and in the morning Lilly got up quickly so that Andy wouldn't see her in Ephram's bed. Even though they didn't do anything, it would be hard to explain that to Andy.  
Ephram and Lilly got dressed and they drove down to the airport. Andy let Ephram use his car so Lilly's mother wouldn't have to ride in Ephram's car. Ephram and Lilly held hands all the way down there and Lilly sang along to the radio. They pulled into the airport and they walked over to where Lilly's mother was supposed to be. Lilly got nervous and started to shake a little. Ephram squeezed her hand and she felt comforted. Soon Lilly's mother's airplane pulled in and Lilly saw her mother get off. She was much shorter than Lilly, but was just as beautiful. She had long black hair and the biggest smile Ephram had ever seen. From what Lilly had described he had expected her to be scary, but she looked absolutely pleasant.  
"Lilly! I missed you so much!" Lilly's mother said as she reached Lilly and Ephram. She grabbed Lilly and gave her a huge hug.  
"I missed you too," said Lilly after her mom pulled away. "Mom, this is Ephram, Ephram this is my Mom, Linda,"  
"Nice to meet you," Ephram said reaching out his hand to shake her hand, but Linda just glared at Ephram. She looked him up and down with an angry look in her eyes.  
"Mm-hmm," was all she said.  
They left the airport and made their way to the car. Lilly sat next to Ephram up front and Linda sat in the back by herself. No one said anything and Ephram kept giving Lilly looks.  
When they finally made it home, Linda jumped out of the car and made her way to the house as quickly as possible.  
"What did I do?" asked Ephram as he helped Lilly out of the car.  
"I don't know, something about you rubs her the wrong way though," Lilly said. She had never seen her mother act that way towards a boyfriend. But she had to admit, she never had a boyfriend like Ephram before.  
They made their way into the house and Ephram went upstairs to get the present for Linda. He had offended Linda, what had he done? While he searched his room for the gift he replayed every conversation he had with Linda. He had never said anything that might offend her. When he found the castle he ran downstairs.  
"Lilly and I bought you a gift yesterday," said Ephram when he made it downstairs. Lilly looked over at him and smiled. Linda just glared at Ephram and that made him feel like he was guilty of something.  
Ephram handed the gift to Linda and she just stared at it. She put on very fake smile and put it aside.  
"Momma, what is wrong? You have been nothing but rude to Ephram since you got here and he has done nothing to you," said Lilly. She was outraged with her mother's behavior.  
"Do you I have to answer in front of him?" she said very snobby like.  
"Yes, I think you owe him an apology," Lilly had left her mother's side and was now standing next to Ephram.  
Linda said nothing for a while and then she looked up at them. "Lilly, I don't think he is good enough for you. Look at him, he is such a disappointment. You always had such great taste in boys, now look. Is this the reason you didn't come home?"  
Lilly clenched her fists. Ephram had never seen her this angry before. "Yes, mother, this is why I didn't come home! He makes me feel special! Why can't you happy for me? Home is hell on earth for me! You expect so much from me and when I'm not what you wanted you think I'm such a disappointment! I can never please you can I? I give up! I'm not dealing with this anymore! I'm moving out!" Lilly shouted and then stormed out of the room.  
Instead of looking like she was guilty or upset, Linda looked at Ephram like he was to blame.  
"What?" he said, getting pissed at her.  
"Lilly was happy until you came. She wanted to be with me. Now that you're here she wants to leave!"  
Ephram just scoffed and left the room. He went to find Lilly, who was sitting on her bed crying. Ephram walked over and tried to comfort her. She turned to him and wept in his arms.  
"It's okay, we'll get through this. I will be here for you whenever you need me. If you move in with us I'm sure Dad and Delia would love to have you," Ephram said as he held her.  
"I'm so sorry about her, Ephram. She is..." she couldn't finish because of uncontrollable sobbing.  
Linda followed the sound of her daughter's sobbing and walked into Lilly's room. The minute Lilly saw her and she straitened up.  
"What do you want?" she said with complete hatred.  
"Lilly please, don't be so dramatic. Come on, I'm taking you home. You are not to see this boy anymore," said Linda, who looked bored.  
Ephram didn't let Lilly say anything. He spoke up for her. "Get out of my house. If you are going to be like this, we don't want you here. She doesn't want to go with you, now leave,"  
Linda laughed and looked around Ephram. "Lilly, I'm not kidding our plane will leave any minute,"  
Ephram looked around confused. "You mean you came here to bring her back?"  
"What do you think? I was going to leave her here?" Linda laughed.  
"Out now! Leave and don't come back. I will call the police if you do not leave this instant," said Ephram with complete detestation.  
"They would be on my side honey, she is my daughter," Linda said looking as if she was wasting her breathe.  
"Except you are trespassing, that is what they could get you for," said Ephram.  
Linda rolled her eyes and pulled an airplane ticket out of her purse, and handed it to Lilly. "Use that when you two break up," she said and then she left.  
Lilly looked down at the ticket in disgust. "I'm so sorry, Ephram," was all she could say.  
"It isn't your fault. I would stand up for you if you committed murder," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.  
She smiled and kissed him back. Just then Linda walked back into the room.  
"Where is your phone, I want to call a cab," she said, interrupting their kiss.  
"In the kitchen," said Ephram rolling his eyes and mimicking Linda mother at Lilly.  
Linda rolled her eyes and went to find the phone. Ephram and Lilly smiled at each other and laid down on Lilly's bed. They both looked up at the ceiling and held hands. From downstairs they could hear Linda leave.  
"Are you okay?" Ephram asked.  
"No, but I'll live. This will just take some getting used to. I can't believe I finally stood up to my mother. I think you gave me confidence," said Lilly smiling and looking over at Ephram.  
Ephram smiled and squeezed her hand a little. About an hour later they heard Andy and Delia come in. They hoped off the bed and went downstairs and went to greet them.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" said Ephram as they got downstairs.  
"Nothing, where's Lilly's mother?" asked Andy, sitting down some groceries.  
"There were some complications and Lilly is staying with us from now on," said Ephram giving his father a look saying that he would explain later.  
"Well she is welcome for as long as she wants," said Andy looking at Lilly with a smile.  
Lilly smiled and helped put things away. Andy stopped her and gave her a hug. He felt like he was a father to her, and hated to see her hurt. Whatever was wrong with her, he wanted to make sure that she felt at home. He pulled away and they finished putting everything away.  
"So does that mean you are staying here forever?" asked Delia.  
"Yeah, it does," responded Lilly, with a sigh.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! (Down with Madison) I hate Ephram/Madison! I am pro Ephram/Lilly! I am also pro Andy/Nina! 


	8. The Proposal

Andy was going through mail when Nina walked in, "Hey neighbor,"  
"Hey Andy, how's Lilly?" Nina asked while putting her things down on the table.  
"She's okay, I think she's just lonely," Andy said putting the mail to the side.  
Nina nodded. She knew how that felt. "I was wondering if she would want to go shopping in Denver with me. Could you watch Sam while we go?"  
"I would love to watch Sam, let me go ask Lilly," Andy ran up the stairs to find Lilly.  
She and Ephram were looking through CDs in Ephram's room. "Lilly, Nina wants to know if you would want to go shopping in Denver with her," Andy was happy to see Lilly smiling, it had been a week since her mother left and she had been kind of distant.  
Lilly looked over at Ephram to see if it was okay, when he nodded she went to find her purse. In fifteen minutes, she and Nina had taken off in the car.  
"Do you mind if I asked you something?" Lilly said as they pulled out of the driveway.  
"Go ahead," said Nina.  
"Well, did you and Andy ever date?"  
Nina laughed out loud, "No, why would you think that?"  
"Well you guys just seem so close. I mean you two would be perfect together,"  
Nina just laughed, "We are just friends, he is my best friend,"  
"Exactly, you two know each other so well. Last night, when you came over, you and Andy just looked at each other and you burst into laughter,"  
Nina just smiled. She couldn't believe that anyone would think of her and Andy together. "How about we talk about your love life...or lack there of,"  
Lilly starting to blush a little "Ephram and I have never felt so close. He is my best friend and I feel like I can tell him anything,"  
"I'm jealous," said Nina.  
When they got to Denver, Nina and Lilly shopped until dark Finally they made their way back home around eleven that night. They had a lot of fun together and Nina thought they had really bonded. When Lilly got into the house, she was exhausted. She set down all of her new things in her room and passed out on the bed, fully clothed.  
  
Ephram woke up the next morning and went to go find Lilly. When he saw her his heart skipped a beat. She looked so beautiful, laying there relaxed and innocent. He smiled and helped her underneath the covers, since she looked cold. She was so tired she didn't wake. He crawled in next to her and tried to warm her body. Her belt was cold against his warm stomach. He was so comfortable next to her he fell asleep. Soon after he fell asleep Lilly woke up. She turned over to find herself laying in Ephram's arms. She snuggled closer to his chest and laid there thinking. She thought about how perfect she felt up against him and how she didn't find it weird at all that he snored. She slowly slipped out of bed and went to take a shower.  
She thought about how she had been that past week, distant and quiet. She felt bad about it, but she couldn't help it. She was unhappy that she was away from her mother. Two days ago, her mother had sent her clothes in the mail to her, and that made everything feel permanent. She had also sent school things and pictures that she had of friends. She felt completely cut off from her mother, like they weren't related anymore.  
Lilly got out of the shower and was surprised to still not hear any noise, normally by this time Delia was up and watching cartoons. She checked her watch and was surprised, yet again, to see that it was only six in the morning. Lilly laughed to herself and got dressed. She wanted to go see Everwood in the morning, so she went to wake Ephram. She jumped on her bed, and he cursed.  
"What?" he said thinking it was Delia or his dad.  
"I want to go walk," she said leaning in to kiss his cheek. For some reason she was in a good mood today.  
"Why are you so happy?" he asked.  
"I don't know, Everwood is starting to feel like home. It makes me miss Georgia a lot less,"  
Ephram smiled up at her and the he went to get ready. After he was ready they went to walk around the neighborhood. They wandered for an hour until they finally decided to go home. Lilly was still a little tired so Ephram gave her a piggy back ride. He knew that he loved her, and would never want to. Half way home he set her down and turned around.  
"What's wrong? Are you tired?" asked Lilly when he put her down.  
"No, I need to ask you something," Ephram said while getting down on one knee. "Lilly, I love you and I can't imagine being away from you for one day. I want you to know that I would never hurt you, and if I did, I would never be able to face the world again. This isn't your dream or the most romantic thing in the world, but will you marry me?"  
Lilly was taken back. She lifted her hands to her face and started to cry a little. Ephram was worried about what this meant, but really Lilly couldn't tell him either. She didn't know what she would say.  
"Listen we can just be engaged for as long as you want, I just want to know that one day you and I will be married. It doesn't have to be today or tomorrow, just sometime after high school, or college even," Ephram said to help her with her decision.  
Lilly just couldn't think straight. She said the first thing that came to her mouth, "Yes!"  
Ephram's face lit up as he stood up. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into the air. He was laughing and so was she.  
"I need to get a ring or something," Ephram said as he put Lilly down.  
"A ring," was all she could say. That made it seem so real. She just smiled to herself and breathed deeply.  
He picked Lilly back up and carried her home. When they finally made it home, every one was awake and Nina was over for a visit.  
"Dad, can I talk to you in private?" asked Ephram.  
"Sure," Andy said, his son looked so weird. He looked as if he was happy, scared, and really tired at the same time.  
"Dad, I don't know how to tell you this," said Ephram When he and his father were out on the porch.  
"This must be serious," said Andy getting nervous.  
"It is, Dad, I proposed to Lilly and she said yes," Ephram blurted out.  
Andy stood there and just stared at Ephram. He didn't know what to think. "What were you thinking?" he finally said.  
Ephram stood there just as baffled as his dad, "I don't know. All I know is that I love her and I want to be with her forever. We're not going to get married right now. We were thinking after college. We were more comfortable with that,"  
Andy didn't know what to think. He just stood there. "If this is what you want, I can't stop you. Just make sure this is what you want,"  
"It is, I've never been more sure of anything. This sounds crazy doesn't it?" Ephram said starting to pace back and forth.  
"Yes," he said, but then he looked up and smiled at Ephram. He was so sure of himself. Something told him it was going to be okay.  
Andy put his arm around Ephram's shoulder and they walked back into the house, but instead of going to join Nina, Delia, and Lilly, Andy led Ephram into his room. He went into his dresser and pulled out a box full of things of Julia's. When he opened the box he pulled out the engagement ring that Andy gave her and he handed it to Ephram.  
"Now go down there and propose the right way." Andy said.  
They walked down stairs and Ephram walked over to Lilly. Nina gave Andy a look but Andy just smiled and watched Ephram.  
Ephram stood in front of Lilly and got down on one knee, "Lilly, I love you and I would do anything to make you happy. Will you do the honor of marrying me?"  
Lilly smiled down at him. Even though it was the second time he asked, she was still at a loss for words. Nina's eyes opened wide and looked over at Andy. Delia has standing there with her mouth dropped low and she kept looking back at her dad.  
"Yes," she said and Ephram slipped on the ring. It fit perfectly, which made them laugh a little.  
Andy stood there smiling down at them and strangely that made Nina feel better. Ephram lifted Lilly into the air and spun her around. When he slowly set her down he leaned in and kissed her.  
"I love you," she said.  
"I love you, too," Ephram said.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! (That's in Latin in case you didn't know. First made popular by Cato, only he said Carthago Delinda Est (Down With Carthage) See you learn something knew every day) 


	9. Madison

Thanks to all who have reviewed my story so far, You have no idea what it means for me to have 22 good reviews! I love you guys so much and I don't even know you! Thank you auggy1984, psalm57, EverwoodADDICT, cait, tardychick06, couriro, and CaptainOats1230. (Captain Oats, do you watch OC?) Again thank you all. If it weren't for you I would have stopped at chapter 2.

"What was that all about?" asked Nina later that night.  
Andy was expecting this. He leaned up against a counter and stared at Nina, "If I told Ephram he couldn't be engaged to Lilly, he would have run off, married her anyway, and I would have never seen him again. They're going to wait until after high school, but he said he just wanted to know they would have each other,"  
Nina still didn't approve, it reminded her too much of her own marriage. "And, they're teenagers. They shouldn't be engaged yet. What if this was just a fling? They would have to live with this mistake forever,"  
But Andy just smiled at her, "Something tells me it's going to be okay,"  
"Maybe it's time you told Ephram about Madison," said Nina.  
Andy tensed up and his smile faded. He had told Nina about Madison one day when he couldn't hold it to himself anymore. "I don't know,"  
Andy was starting to believe what he did was wrong. That poor girl.  
"Well you should, he deserves to know," said Nina.  
"I'll take care of it," said Andy.  
Nina wasn't sure, but she dropped the subject. Upstairs Lilly was on the phone telling her father. He was a lot more laid back than her mother, and he would talk to Lilly.  
"I am so happy for you, sweetie, just make sure this is what you want," her father was a little unsure of this arrangement. He had never met Ephram, or his father, how did he know that these people weren't murderers or child molesters?  
"I'm positive, I love him daddy," she smiled, she was walking on air. She had never felt this happy before.  
"Well I'll tell your mother. I love you," he said.  
"I love you, too. Bye daddy," she hung the phone and turned to Ephram who was sitting next to her.  
Ephram smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her. She slowly wrapped her arms around him and he laid her down on the bed. But instead of going any farther, he pulled back and laid next to her. Lilly was happy they didn't do anything else. She loved him but she had decided never to give in to temptation again. Thankfully she had a wonderful boyfriend, or fiancé now, who knew what she wasn't ready for.  
"I need to call Bright!" Ephram said hoping up from the bed.  
Lilly lied there a little longer until Delia came in.  
"I can' believe that you're going to be my sister," Delia said jumping next to Lilly.  
"I'm so happy. Hey, maybe we can talk Ephram into putting on makeup tonight!" said Lilly looking mischievously over at Ephram who had just hung up with Bright.  
"No!" he said with a great look of fear.  
"Please! It would be so much fun! It's not like anyone will see you!" begged Lilly.  
"No," said Ephram with a smile.  
Lilly smiled over at Delia, who smiled back. Then Andy walked in and leaned on the doorframe.  
"Can I speak to you, Ephram?" he said.  
Ephram got up off the bed and Andy led him down stairs.  
"Is there something wrong?" asked Ephram. Andy was acting unhappy and sulky.  
"I need to tell you something about Madison. You're not going to like it, and you most likely will hate me for it," Andy said as he started to pace. "Before you left for Julliard, Madison stopped by my office. She had a problem and wanted me to clarify it for her. She was late,"  
Ephram looked at Andy, he didn't understand what he meant by late, "So she isn't punctual, that's okay,"  
"No Ephram, she was late for her period. Meaning she might be pregnant," Andy said stopping to watch his son's expression.  
Ephram's face was blank. He didn't know what to think, "Was she?"  
"Yes," Andy said shaking.  
Ephram started to shake harder. He couldn't stand anymore. It was too hard for him to take in. He stumbled over to the couch and sat down. He put his head in his hands and just sat there. Nothing came to his head.  
Andy watched as his son took the news. He looked near tears.  
"How, we were safe," was all he could come out with.  
"Condoms and birth control are never one hundred percent accurate. But Ephram, it will be okay. We will work it out," said Andy leaning in trying to help his son.  
Ephram sat there wondering what to do, what could they do?  
"I need to tell Lilly," that was all he could think to make things better.  
Andy let him go. Ephram ran up the stairs as fast as he could. He had to get away from there, like that was the area what was going on was real, and every where else it was fake. When he got to the room he saw Lilly and Delia sitting on the bed talking and laughing.  
"Delia could you leave, I need to talk to Lilly," said Ephram, mad that they were happy and he felt as if he could never be again.  
Delia saw that he was upset and left without question. Lilly saw something was wrong too, it worried her and she was grateful that Delia was leaving so she would not here this.  
"What's wrong?" asked Lilly as soon as Ephram closed the door.  
Ephram didn't say anything at first, instead he just leaned into Lilly's stomach and cried. Lilly was worried, she hugged him and tried her best to make him better. Nothing worked. He stayed in this position for a half hour until he finally pulled away.  
"I have to tell you something, and I hope you won't kill me," said Ephram.  
"Of course," Lilly was really afraid.  
"I told you Madison and I had sex, Dad told me that before I left Julliard, she came to his office and she was pregnant, with my baby," It took all of Ephram's being to say that, now it was real.  
Lilly didn't want to say anything for a while. She knew that she had to be supportive of Ephram, she wanted to be his rock. "It'll be okay. We will do anything we can, everything will workout, I'll be here for you,"  
Ephram was so grateful that she wanted to help with something that happened before he knew her.  
"I should call Madison," said Ephram.  
Lilly nodded and let him go. Ephram got up and started to dial the number. He could barely do even something that simple. He heard the phone ring and Madison pick up.  
"Hello?" she said.  
Ephram said nothing at first he just listened.  
"Hello?" now she was starting to get angry.  
"Hey," was all he could force himself to say.  
"Ephram? What are you calling for?" Madison got nervous and shifted in her seat.  
"Madison I know,"  
Madison got scared. What did he mean knew? Was he drunk? Or did he really know? "What do you mean?"  
"I know that you're pregnant, Dad told me,"  
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
"I've been better. I thought you would want to talk. To figure out what to do,"  
They talked for a while and Madison told him about how scared she was and how scared he was. Ephram felt better after he hung up. When he turned around he noticed Lilly was asleep on his bed. He went to lay next to her. But the thought of kissing her made him flinch. He was afraid to get close to anyone. He left her there on his bed and went down stairs. Andy was there with Delia and Ephram came to sit near them. Nothing was said, they just sat there and watched a movie. When it was late they went to bed. Ephram went to his room and was surprised to see Lilly. He went sat next to her and just stared down at her. What was going to happen to there relationship? Was it going to be the same? Most likely not, but Ephram said he was going to try. It would be hard, but he would do his best. He started thinking of that REM song, Everybody Hurts, and knew that he would make it.  
"Lilly," he said gently nudging her.  
She slowly woke and smiled at him. His heart hurt a little, he loved her so much.  
"Come on," he said pulling her underneath his covers. He climbed in next to her and they slept in the same bed all night. Ephram knew they would find some way to work through this.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est!


	10. The Baby

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Everwood characters. I just love them all very dearly. Tardy Chick, I love your idea, I'm gonna use it if you are okay with that. If not...Why did you let me know about it in the first place? Thanks to all who have reviewed my story. I love you guys! You brighten my day whenever I read your reviews! I love you all! I just can't say that enough!  
  
The next morning Ephram woke with a gasp. He thought last night had been a dream. When he looked around he found that it wasn't. His sudden awaking woke Lilly up and she turned around to see if he was okay. When she saw him she was scared. He looked as if he had cried all night. She hugged him and tried to make him feel better. Ephram didn't pull away, he just wanted to be in her arms. He was sick of feeling alone. He needed to be comforted. He hadn't slept well and it showed in his face. His eyes had bags under them and he looked as if he had aged five years in one night.  
"It will be okay," was all Lilly could say.  
"What if it's not? What if it doesn't work out? I can't raise a child," Ephram looked like he was on the verge of tears again.  
"Well you won't be able to raise a child with that attitude. No matter what the circumstances are, you have to believe that you can do it,"  
Ephram cuddled his head below hers. He was so afraid, and so was she.  
"I'll get a job, and I'll help," said Lilly.  
"I can't ask you to do that," said Ephram pulling back and looking at her.  
"You didn't ask, I volunteered. I want to help, and be a good step mom for the baby," Lilly hadn't thought about it until just then, she would be a step mom. She smiled to herself a little. "I'll even help Madison, and I'll do what ever I can, this baby is going to have a great family,"  
Ephram pulled her closer, he was so grateful to have a wonderful fiancé. After a while of just laying there, Lilly crawled out to get ready. Ephram followed. Around ten that morning Lilly went to call Madison. She was a little nervous about calling someone she had never spoken to in her life.  
"Hello?" answered Madison. She was still getting ready. She had been having terrible morning sickness lately, so that slowed her down.  
"Hi, Madison. You don't know me, but my name is Lilly. I'm Ephram's girlfriend. I called to let you know that whatever you need, I am right here," said Lilly quickly, trying not to make herself sound like such a loser.  
"Oh, thank you. What is your name again?" asked Madison.  
"Lilly, is there any thing you need?" asked Lilly, she was getting a little nervous. Lilly was always a shy type and this phone call was very out of her character, but it needed to be done.  
"Actually, I am having the worst time fitting into my pants. I was wanting to go shopping, but I hate shopping alone. Would you go with me?" asked Madison. She was so grateful to have Lilly's help. There were no words to describe the relief it felt to have someone to talk to.  
"Shopping is my forte! I would love to help, how about I come over in about an hour and we drive out to Denver for some maternity cloughs shopping?" Lilly was getting excited. Finally, something she could do!  
"Great, I will see you then," Madison hung up the phone and took a sigh of relief. She was so happy she was almost in tears.  
Lilly, set the phone down and went to find Ephram. She found him sitting on the couch watching some Disney movie. Lilly cocked her head to the side and sighed. He was taking this very hard. She went to sit next to him and he hugged her.  
"I'm about to go shopping for maternity clothes with Madison, is there anything you want while I'm gone?" asked Lilly.  
"Madison? Why are you meeting her?" asked Ephram.  
"I told you, I wanted to help, she needs help getting clothes, so we are going shopping for clothes,"  
Ephram was a little uncomfortable with his ex-girlfriend and fiancé going shopping together. "Are you sure this is what you want?"  
Lilly nodded. Soon Andy walked in followed by Delia.  
"Morning you two. How did you sleep?" Andy was trying to sound as normal as possible, he was glad that he finally told Ephram. He needed to know, but he was afraid of Ephram's reaction. He was taking it very rough.  
"I slept pretty well. I hope you don't mind Andy, I'm going shopping with Madison in like an hour," answered Lilly.  
Andy couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Madison? Like Ephram's Madison?"  
"Yeah, she needs maternity clothes and I volunteered to shop with her."  
Andy just shook his head. Just the Nina walked in the room with Sam, who immediately went and turned on cartoons. "Andy I need to talk to you!" she looked worried.  
Andy followed her out on the porch. He was very worried about his friend. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
"Just let me talk okay? Lilly was talking to me the other day. She mentioned me and you together. I told her we were only friends, but then I couldn't stop thinking about being with you. I know it might be weird, but it just seems so wrong it would be right. Am I making any sense?" Nina said as she started to wring her hands.  
"No, but...Nina - -"but before he could say anything Nina came up and kissed him. It felt so right, just being there with him. He felt the same way, he couldn't pull away. He hadn't felt this way since Julia had died.  
When Nina pulled away she looked confused, like she had no idea what had just gone on.  
"Wow," was all Andy could say.  
Nina laughed a little a laid her head down on his shoulder. Nothing would be the same with their friendship, but maybe that would be a good thing? Only time could tell.  
"I should go," said Nina after standing there for a while.  
"No, stay for a little while," Andy was so confused, all he knew was that he wanted her to stay.  
Nina smiled and took his hand. They came back inside and Ephram, Lilly, and Delia were staring at them. Nina blushed a little and Andy wished for a diversion.  
"I told you so," said Lilly to Nina.  
Nina laughed and rolled her eyes. Ephram was happy for his dad, and he was grateful to not have the complete attention.  
Everyone sat on the couch and they watched cartoons until Lilly had to leave.  
"Bye you guys," Nina said and grabbed Ephram's keys. Ephram had given her directions to Madison's house while Andy and Nina made out on the porch. When she pulled up to Madison's house her heart went out to her. She did look like she was having an awful time getting her pants on, since she was wearing pajama bottoms. Lilly went out to help her into the car and they took off.  
"So, how are you holding up?" asked Lilly.  
"Not well, I'm so thankful to have you help. I'm so happy Ephram knows, now I don't feel so alone," said Madison. She was getting a little uncomfortable because she could smell Ephram's cologne in the car. It brought back old painful memories.  
"No problem. I have a really young sister so I know how to take care of little babies. Ask me whatever you want. And if you need a babysitter I am happy to help," said Lilly.  
"How do you know exactly what I want to hear?" asked Madison. She had been worried all of those things for when the baby would come.  
"I know that's what I would want to hear if I was pregnant,"  
Madison smiled and then laughed at herself. "Look at me! I look so trashy, I'm still in my pajamas and I have no make-up on. Two months ago I would have died before I wore this getting the mail, now I'm going shopping. I am falling apart,"  
"No you're not. I didn't even notice you didn't have on any make-up. You're beautiful, I was so jealous when I saw you talking to Ephram the other day. I almost had sex with him so I could keep him from going back to you," said Lilly recalling that day. It seemed like ages ago.  
"Don't, no matter how much you love him, he will stay if you don't sleep with him. I'm jealous of you. You're so beautiful and innocent, all I can think of myself is that all of innocence is gone. If I could take it all back I would," Madison said starting to look out the window.  
"You won't be saying that one day. You might be in a rut now, but it will all work out. It might not seem like it now but it will,"  
Madison smiled, this stranger always knew what she wanted to hear. "I've been thinking,"  
"That can't be good," joked Lilly.  
Madison laughed a little, "I think it is the best thing I can do. I'm gonna give the baby up for adoption. I can't handle a baby. It is way too much. After I have the baby I'm gonna move. Once you have a baby that is illegitimate in Everwood that is all you're ever known for. You could win the Nobel Peace Prize and they would only know you as the girl who had an illegitimate baby,"  
Lilly got quiet, "Have you told Ephram?"  
"No, I was hoping I wouldn't have to but now he's involved. What am I gonna do?"  
Lilly didn't know. She just gave her a sympathetic look and they dropped the subject. They shopped until Madison had enough clothes to last her the whole pregnancy. When Lilly got back home it was a little after seven. She had told Madison that she would tell Ephram her decision. She found him and he looked a lot better than he did that morning. She went and sat next to him and he could tell she had something important to say. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. He had already heard enough.  
"Ephram, Madison wants to give the baby up for adoption. She doesn't want it. She's gonna move after she has it. I'm so sorry," Lilly said after a while of deciding how she was going to tell him.  
Ephram wasn't sure how he had felt about it. He had spent the whole day trying to get used to the idea of being a father. He had finally become comfortable with the idea, and now she was going to give the baby up for adoption? "I don't want that to happen. I don't want her to give it up. I want it,"  
"What?" Lilly was completely confused. Why would he want the baby? "You have no idea of how to raise a baby. It would be a disaster. Plus you have school, who will watch it? Nina won't watch a newborn, no one will watch a newborn,"  
"We can find a way. It could be the start of our family. You and I could have custody of the baby," Ephram hadn't really thought everything through. He just knew that keeping the baby was what he wanted.  
Lilly thought Ephram had lost his mind. She knew that he couldn't raise a baby, nor could she, but something told her he wouldn't change his mind about this. "Are you sure this is what you want?"  
"Yes," Ephram knew that it was true. He loved Lilly and he wanted to have children with her, but he thought that their children could wait a while.  
Lilly shook her head. What was she getting herself into, but she was going to do it. Why? She trusted Ephram. Whatever he thought would be good, would be. "Sure,"  
"Let's tell Dad," Ephram grabbed Lilly's hand and lead her downstairs. They found Andy cheerily cleaning the kitchen. He was glad that his son was doing okay, it almost seemed weird that he was standing in front of him smiling just then. Andy's smile melted away as he thought about what Ephram had told him the last time he had that look on his face.  
"What's wrong?" he said looking over to Lilly. But Lilly said nothing. This was Ephram's news, she knew that Ephram wanted to tell.  
"Dad, I want custody of my baby. Madison wants to give it up for adoption and I don't want it to leave. I want for Lilly and I to have full custody of it," Ephram said as he pulled Lilly closer for support.  
Andy wasn't sure how he felt. He just leaned against the counter and thought about it, "What about money for diapers and furniture? Who will watch the baby when you're at school? I can't, Nina can't. Have you really thought this through?"  
Ephram knew that it was going to be hard to convince his dad, but he had to try. "I'll figure that out. I just know that now I want to keep it,"  
"You can't just procrastinate on the subject of a baby. Listen, we'll sit down and come up with ways that you can keep the baby. If you can figure a way to fulfill all of the baby's needs we might be able to have it. If not, Madison will put it up for adoption. Even if we do keep it you will have to take parenting classes and I want you to take full responsibility for the baby. You will be the one who gets up at midnight to feed it and change it," Andy said thinking he was starting to sound like he was letting Ephram have a puppy.  
They all went to sit on the couch and figure out a way to get the baby. Lilly had applied for three jobs while shopping. She was hoping to get a call from them. If she got all three they would have enough for diapers. Andy would chip in and buy furniture, and Ephram was going to apply for a few jobs. It left one thing open, what would they do for child care.  
"Can I ask Nina?" asked Lilly. They were so close, why give up.  
"You can ask, but don't expect anything," said Andy. Even though he knew Ephram would have trouble raising a baby, he was a little disappointment that it wasn't going to work out.  
"I'll go ask," said Lilly. She stood up and made her way next door.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! (Cato, the man who made this phrase famous, was the father of Latin prose...I think. He was the father of Latin something, it might be satire, hmm. Something to ponder!) 


	11. School is Starting

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Everwood characters. I just love them very dearly. Thank you to all who have reviewed! I love y'all! I love you guys so much I'm letting you choose the gender of the baby! Whatever gender gets the most votes wins. You also get to nominate names. Whichever name I like best, I choose and I will read and review all of your stories. If I don't like any of the names I will just choose my own. Let the games begin!  
  
Nina looked through her bills. She was very behind this month. She had no idea how she was going to make all of these payments. Maybe if she took a shower only when she really reeked? No, then she wouldn't have any friends. What if she only bathed Sam when he really smelled? No, then she would get a note home saying that her son had no proper hygiene. What if she only brushed her teeth, did her dishes, and washed her clothes at Andy's? No, if she wanted to further her relationship with Andy she was not going to use all his water. The only way that she could make the payment was if she sold her wedding and engagement ring. She knew that Carl wasn't coming back, but she was attached to her ring. She got it in high school and hated to give it away, but if she wanted to stay in that house she would have to. She sighed and picked up the phone to call a pawn shop. She described the ring to the man on the other line, he told her it was worth. It was just enough to get by, this time. A few minutes after she hung the phone Lilly came to the door.  
"Hey, why are you here so late?" asked Nina.  
"I need to talk to you. Do you know about Ephram and Madison?" Lilly asked. She looked nervous. Nina nodded. "Well, Madison wants to put the baby up for adoption. Ephram wants to keep it. We sat down and figured out whether we could take care of the baby. We found out that we had everything but a baby sitter. We would pay you to watch the baby. We would do anything. Please say you'll watch it,"  
Nina sat there thinking about what Lilly had asked. She needed the money, but a new born baby? That was harder than pregnancy. "How much money were you thinking of paying me?"  
"What do you need?" Lilly was desperate and the fact that Nina was even thinking of helping made her feel like there was a little hope.  
Nina calculated in her head what she would need to keep the house. Sixty dollars a day sounded about what she would need, but that was way too much. She knew they would never be able to afford that. "Let me talk to Andy about it. I would love to watch the baby,"  
Lilly couldn't believe she said yes. She smiled and gave Nina a huge hug. "Oh my God thank you so much! You are...oh my God, I have no words,"  
Lilly hadn't even realized how much she really wanted this baby. She just couldn't believe that they had a chance. Lilly left Nina's house and ran over to hers. She ran into the room and jumped into Ephram's arms. He just guessed the answer for Nina's question. He was so happy, he had never expected Nina to say yes. Andy stood off to the side and knew that he had to let them keep this baby. He smiled and laughed a little. Thank God for Nina. Ephram put Lilly down and just laughed.  
"I can't believe it! Do we get to Dad?" Ephram turned to his father.  
Andy nodded and Ephram turned back to Lilly. He laughed and picked Lilly back up. Lilly laughed and laid her head down on Ephram's shoulder. He set her back down and went to go call Madison.  
He dialed the number as quickly as possible and tapped his fingers on the counter.  
"Hello?" asked Madison, she sounded like she had been sleeping.  
"Hey Madison, don't put the baby up for adoption," said Ephram, he was so excited he barely made sense.  
"I have to Ephram, I can't do this myself. This is the only way out," Madison was getting uncomfortable.  
"I want custody of it. I want it, I've been looking over everything and I can take care of it. I want custody of the baby,"  
"Are you sure?" Madison was happy Ephram wanted the baby, she hated the thought of putting it up for adoption. At least then she would know that it was safe and she knew where it was.  
"Yeah,"  
"Okay, if this is what you want, I want you to have the baby,"  
Ephram hung the phone up and went over to his dad. He gave a huge hug, "Thank you,"  
Andy started t cry a little but held it back. Lilly was on cloud nine, she was going to be a mom. That was when it really became palpable. A real baby, not a fake one or one that she baby-sits, a baby that she takes home and watches herself.  
That night Lilly snuck into Ephram's room. She crawled in next to him and wrapped her arms around him. He woke up and turned around.  
"Hey, is there anything wrong?" Ephram said.  
"No, I just wanted to talk about baby names. What do you want to name the baby if it is a girl?" Lilly asked snuggling closer.  
"I guess we should talk about it with Madison, but what about Bennifer?" Ephram said. Talking about names made it seem so real.  
Lilly laughed, "If you name the baby Bennifer I will kill you,"  
Slowly they fell asleep in each others arms. Even if a complete stranger walked in and saw them, they would be able tell that they loved each other very much.  
  
"Hey, we need to get you registered for school, it starts in a week," said Andy over breakfast the next morning.  
All three kids groaned. "Dad, haven't I ever told you. You don't say the "s" word until the day before the "s" word starts," said Ephram.  
"Oh, yeah. Well today I'll go to the high school and get her registered. I think your mom sent all your school papers with your clothes that day. If you want to come with me we can sign you up for classes," ignoring there fake flinching after he said school.  
"Fine I'll go, but I do not want to hear that word until the day before school," said Lilly.  
They all laughed a little and finished up breakfast. "Oh yeah, Nina wants to talk to you about how much she should be paid to watch the baby," said Lilly suddenly remembering that information.  
Andy nodded and kept on eating. He was wondering how much she would ask. He knew that Nina was having money problems and he knew that this was a way to help her way out of it.  
When they finished cleaning up their breakfast Andy and Lilly got ready to go to the school. While waiting for Lilly he started to look through her transcript. He was amazed to see how well she did in school. She had made all A's since she had started high school and she had been in all advanced placement classes. Her extracurricular activities were amazing. Sh edited the yearbook, had been on the dance team, cheerleading, drama, chorus, band, and academic team. She had always seemed smart to him, but he never thought she was this smart. When she came down stairs he looked at her like she was a different person.  
"What?" she asked when she caught his stare.  
"Why didn't you tell us you were a genius!" he said.  
She blushed a little, "Oh, you saw my transcript. I'm not that smart, I just study,"  
"Let me see," said Ephram coming over to see it. "Wow! What are you superwoman?"  
Lilly's face, if it was possible, got even redder. "No, things just come to me easier than to other people,"  
"But not only that you were involved in everything available. You were even on newspaper, broadcasting, and governors honors. Governors honors is impossible to get. How did you do it?" Ephram had snatched her transcript from Andy.  
"Let me see that," she said snatching it from him. "Hey they left off that started my own club,"  
"What a tragedy," Ephram said rolling his eyes. He loved to make fun of Lilly.  
Lilly stuck her tongue out at him and he gave her a hug.  
"Okay let's go," said Andy wanting to get her registered as soon as possible.  
Andy led her out of the house and they made their way to the school. Andy smiled, now he had someone to talk to about complicated, intelligent things. When they made to the school they got out to get registered. Andy was walking on sunshine, he had someone to show off academically. After everything was taking care of Lilly went to sign up for classes. She signed up for AP British Literature, AP Macroenomics, AP Human Anatomy, AP Calculus, Ap Latin, and Dance.  
"You have a lot on your hands," said Andy when they got in the car. He looked over her schedule. "You know Latin?"  
"Ita Vero! Yes, I've taken it since ninth grade," said Lilly. "It really helps with literature and stuff. I know all the big words,"  
Andy raised his eyebrows, he was impressed, he had taken Latin himself. "What side do you root for, the Greeks or the Trojans"  
"Trojans, I'm a sucker for a romantic story. Even though they fell out of love, I still wished Troy had won. Paris and Helen were so stupid. They should have run away to a different country not go back to Troy, especially since Paris had that prophecy,"  
Andy laughed, he couldn't remember the whole story about Troy, so he really had no idea what she was talking about. When they got back home Ephram and Lilly went out for a walk.  
"Lilly, why aren't you going to be a doctor or lawyer? I can't believe you want to be a dancer, you might never make a dime from that. Why not do something that you can make millions from?" asked Ephram. His question had been bothering him since he saw her transcript.  
"I don't enjoy law or medicine, I enjoy dancing. I don't want to spend all of my life doing something I hate because I get more money for it. One of my teachers asked me the same thing when I told her that's what I wanted to be. When I told her my answer she smiled and told me that is why she got into teaching. She didn't want money, she wanted to teach," Lilly said.  
Ephram smiled at her, she was so confident. How did she do it? "So you're a cheerleader? You don't seem like a cheerleader,"  
"I was, I'm thinking of trying out this year. What do you think?" she said. She had seen a flyer up outside the school and thought about it.  
"Are you kidding, I would love to have a sexy cheerleader girlfriend,"  
Lilly rolled her eyes, "Is that all guys think about, sex? You are making me loose faith in men,"  
Ephram smiled and kissed her. She smiled and they walked in silence for a while.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! You know the awesomest song is? Ohhh La La by the Wise Guys! Just thought you would like to know! If you don't believe me listen to it and find out for yourself! 


	12. First Day

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Everwood characters, I just love them dearly. Wise Guys rock and so do you! Hey guess what! I looked up what names mean on the internet and it turns out Lilly means innocence. I didn't know that! Now you do! Isn't that weird though, she is a virgin and her name means innocent! I want to say that I didn't intend to portray Dr. Abbot in a cad light. I love Harold dearly and I thought that since he is such a great father that he would stick with his daughter and if someone hurt her he would be extremely angry with them. I know Harold doesn't mind Ephram terribly, but under the circumstances, he would act differently towards Ephram.  
  
"Where are my pants?" screamed Lilly. It was the first day of school and Lilly was stressed out. She was trying out for cheerleading that afternoon, she also had a meeting with yearbook and newspaper. Her day was full and it hadn't even started yet.  
"They're in the dryer, don't worry they're dry," said Ephram. Lilly was scaring him He had never seen her get so worked up. He would be too though if he had to do all the things she did that day.  
Lilly ran into the laundry room to retrieve her pants. She put them on as quickly as possible and then ran down stairs. She got all of her things ready for tryouts. Finally when she was ready she calmed down by doing a few yoga stretches. She finally got down and she was like a different person. She laughed out loud when she saw the face that everyone was giving her. They looked afraid to speak, because they might say something wrong and she would get angry.  
"I'm okay guys, I promise I won't kill you...today," laughed Lilly.  
Everyone smiled and they all made their way to the car. Delia was dropped off first and then Lilly and Ephram. They would have come in Ephram's car but it was in the shop. When they pulled in Ephram was immediately welcomed by a 'Hey freak!' Lilly touched his arm for sympathy and he grabbed it and kissed it. The guys who had given Ephram his warm welcome quieted down when they saw Lilly. Ephram smiled to himself, this was the first time he had been able to stop the bullying.  
Together they went to find their locker, Lilly put all of her things for tryouts in her locker and Ephram took out things from the year before. Lilly saw an old picture of Ephram and Madison and one of Ephram and Amy. He soon replaced them with his favorite one of Lilly him, it was when they had their first kiss. One of the people from the program took the picture when they saw it and sent it to him in the mail. Lilly got ready to decorate her locker. She put a mirror up and a picture of Ephram and her. She also put one up of Delia and one of Bright, who she had become a great friend to her over the summer. She also put a small magnetic calendar in there to write down what was scheduled for that day. She wrote down everything and then put it all away. When she closed her locker she and Ephram went to walk around the school. He showed her were all of her classes were and they made a place for them to meet when school let out. Even thought she had tryouts, he wanted to talk to her about her day. When the first bell rang they took off in separate directions. Lilly's first class was dance. This was going to be very enjoyable. She loved to dance and just the thought of it made her feel better. When she went into the room however she saw Amy in a corner. Lilly went to hide from her but it was impossible. Amy immediately saw her and went after her.  
"Can I speak to you?" she said when she reached her.  
Lilly nodded. She was a little to afraid to say anything for fear of being slapped.  
Amy led her over to where she was standing before, "Listen, I that we have every class together, I don't know if you noticed but I really don't like you. Just stay out of my way and I won't make your time in Everwood miserable,"  
With that Amy walked away. Lilly looked around for a while and then went to change into her dance clothes. She started to feel out of place, in her old school she was extremely popular, now she was all alone. Everyone in the class had known each other since kindergarten, and no one cared to make new friends. Lilly saw a group of girls conjugating in the back so she went over.  
"Hi, I'm Lilly. Nice to meet y'all," Lilly said when she got over there.  
Some of the girls looked at her like she was crazy, "Y'all? Where do you come from?" said one of the girls next to her.  
"Georgia, I am such a hick. I just moved here over the summer with my boyfriend. I don't really know anyone so I was hoping just to talk to y'all,"  
One girl with red hair walked over to her, "Hi, I'm Danielle, this is Fefe, Alison, Lindsey, Paula, and Natalie," All the other girls waved at her. They all talked until the bell rung and then they took a seat.  
  
At three thirty school let out and Ephram and Lilly met at there spot. Lilly was so happy to have made new friends. It turned out that all of them were trying out for cheerleading that afternoon so she would have people to talk to. Ephram gave her a kiss good bye when he saw his dad come and he took off. Lilly headed over to the gym and met up with Danielle.  
"Was that your boyfriend?" she asked as Fefe, Natalie, and Lindsey started to walk with them.  
"Yes, well sort of. He's my fiancé actually," Lilly said showing off her ring.  
"That is so beautiful, did he steal it?" asked Paula who had just joined them.  
"No, why would you think that?"  
"Well, it is common knowledge that Ephram is a thief. Didn't you know?" asked Natalie.  
"Actually he's not a thief. I've known him longer than y'all have and I know that he isn't a thief so let's just not say that anymore," Lilly was starting to get aggravated. She remembered why she mistrust her friends so much in Georgia. They were so much like them.  
"Okay, what ever you say Lilly. So, how did he propose?" said Fefe.  
"I woke up really early one morning and I woke him up to, we went for a walk and I got tired so he started to carry me home. After a while he put me down and then he asked me and I said yes," said Lilly reliving the day.  
All the girls sighed in awe. They were really nice, and Lilly enjoyed their company. After tryouts she went to her locker. She wouldn't find out if she made it until the next morning and they would broadcast it on the announcements. Lilly's other interviews went well and she was scheduled for different activities the rest of the week. When she got outside Ephram was waiting in his car. She hopped in and they went for a drive.  
"So how did everything go?" Ephram tried to sound interested in a sport that was so uninteresting to him.  
"Really good. I messed up on one thing but I covered it up pretty well. I also had really good interviews with all of the other thing today. How about you, what did you do today?" said Lilly tuning the radio to find a station she liked. She finally found a station playing Clay Aiken's new song Touch.  
"Well, it was okay. I missed you," he said putting his hand on her leg.  
"I missed you, too. I made new friends today, isn't that great?" Lilly said. She started to sing along with the radio. She was a huge American Idol fan and an even bigger Clay fan.  
"That is great, who was is?" Ephram said. He was more of a Ruben man, but Clay was pretty good.  
"Daniel Brooks, Fefe Young, Paula Stone, Lindsey Martin, Natalie Jones, and Allison Lee," said Lilly, she hoped she had gotten the names right. She was terrible with names. For the first three days of knowing Ephram she called him Eddy.  
"Yeah, they all hate me,"  
Lilly got quiet. She felt uncomfortable by the fact that he was hated by her friends, "Ephram if you got to know them you would really like them. Sit with us at lunch tomorrow. I didn't see you there today,"  
"I usually don't eat lunch. I go to the auditorium and practice. No one bothers me there. I'll try to sit with you guys. Just as long as you don't act like you don't know me,"  
Lilly smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. They pulled up to their house and went inside. Andy told Lilly that people had called her. She went to the message tablet and called everyone that had called her earlier. She had five messages. After she finished the calls she went over to Ephram.  
"I got the jobs. All three of them, and we have been invited to a party at Danielle's house and I am now officially a member of the yearbook staff," she said while sitting on Ephram's lap.  
Ephram smiled. He couldn't believe he had a girlfriend who was into all of these things. How was she going to help with the bay when it came? She has so much stuff she might never be at home.  
"Party? I don't think so. What kind of party?" said Andy walking through.  
"She said that it was just a group of us and our boyfriends. It's kind of a welcome party for me. Her mom will be there and we were just going to watch a movie or something,"  
"Well, okay, but don't come home drunk,"  
  
The week was hectic for Lilly. She started off working at the pharmacy on Tuesday and Thursday, then she worked at the video store Wednesday and Friday, and on Monday and Saturday she worked at the book store. On Saturday after she got off from the book store she saw Ephram outside the store with his car. She hopped in and they took off. She was in a really bad mood and didn't feel like talking. She had been this way and Ephram knew that she just needed to unwind. They stopped by the house and Lilly got changed. When she finally came down Ephram and her made their way to the party.  
When they got to the party Ephram grabbed Lilly's hand. He was nervous about meeting her friends. He hadn't taken up Lilly's offer to sit with them because he was afraid to embarrass her. She had reassured him that she could never be embarrassed by him, but he was so unsure. Lilly smiled over at him and laid her head on his shoulder. Lilly knocked on Danielle's door and they waited for a while. Finally Danielle opened the door and they came in. They weren't the first ones there, Paula and Lindsey were on the couch with their boyfriends. They sat next to them and everything was quiet.  
"So, your name is Elroy, right?" asked Lindsey's boyfriend, Matt.  
"Ephram, we have Spanish together," Ephram felt immediately out of place. Matt had always been cruel to him, he always tripped him coming to his desk or flipped old cheese on his desk.  
"Right," Matt said rolling his eyes. Danielle sat down and made an effort to talk to Ephram, "So, I heard you can play piano really well. How did you get into that?"  
"Well my mom made me take lessons and I really enjoyed them, so I've just stuck with it," he said.  
"That's really cool, so will you play for us?" Danielle was glad that he didn't feel out of place. She really like Lilly and wanted her and her boyfriend to feel welcome.  
Ephram shrugged and walked over to the grand piano in there living room. He looked through the music they had and all of it was either nursery rimes or Christmas music. He decided it was time for him to practice on the song he had been working on forever. One of his teachers in the Julliard program a sheet of music that he said fitted his style. He had been practicing it forever and knew it by heart. He ran his fingers along the keys and closed his eyes. He started to move his fingers in the familiar places. The song did fit him and the mood he was in ever since he met Lilly. Everyone in the room, even Matt, were blown away by his wonderful talent. Lilly stood there smiling at him and walked over and put her hands on his shoulders. Since the song had lyrics she sang along. The lyrics were in Gaelic and she loved the way they rolled of her tongue. It was an ancient song that had been sung at weddings to give the bride and groom good luck. When the song was over they looked at their new friends.  
"Wow," said Paula. "That was amazing! How did you learn to do that?"  
"It kind of just comes," he said. He was pleased to see that Matt was even surprised.  
"Dude, you have got some talent," said Matt.  
"Thanks," Ephram said. He rose from his seat and wrapped one arm around Lilly.  
Lilly smiled and then everyone went to sit down. Ephram finally felt like he kind of fit in. When the guys left the room to watch sports he was invited, even though he had no desire to watch sports. He followed anyway though, he was finally one of the guys and he didn't want to be kicked out of this clique that was so hard to get into.  
Ephram came into the room with them, and Luke, Paula's boyfriend, changed the channel. They found an old game on ESPN and they watched like zombies. Shouting every no and then when something exciting happened. Soon more and more people cam in the room until the room was completely packed. Ephram met all of them and they were polite, mostly because Matt was acting friendly to him. Matt seemed to be the ring leader in the little group of guys. He sat next to Matt and they talked about the game and school stuff. It turned out that Matt wasn't that bad, just very choosy about his friends. When the party was over Lilly and Ephram stayed after a little while to help Danielle clean up. When they finished they made their way home.  
"So did you enjoy yourself?" asked Lilly. She was so happy to see that he blended with her friends. She really needed that party to loosen up from the week. She didn't have any drugs or alcohol, she just needed to sit and talk to her friends about anything.  
"Surprisingly yes, I thought I was going to be so miserable, but thanks to you it wasn't that bad," Ephram pulled her close to him.  
Lilly snuggled up against him and she started to realize how tired she was. Half way home she fell asleep and Ephram covered her with his jacket. She had to be tired, just thinking about next week made him nervous. She not only had work, but she also had cheerleading practice. He hoped that she was going to be able to handle it. He had also applied for a few jobs and only one had called. He would start the next week and he would work all week for four hours. When they made it home he carried her in the house. She was so tired she didn't wake up. He laid her down in her bed and then he went to his. Before he knew it, he had passed out.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! Hmm, lets see, what can I teach today? Oh okay, First 5 Roman Emperors: Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero These were the Julio-Claudian Emperors and they would have stayed in reign, but Nero was crazy and he killed his whole family off. 


	13. Andy and Nina

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Everwood characters, I just love them dearly. Except Lilly, she is mine...back off! Hey, I want everyone who reads my story to see the movie Meet Me in St. Louis! It is awesome! It stars Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien. It was made in 1944 and it is so good. All people who hate movies where they say the "f" word a dozen in a half times every minute will love this movie! It is so innocent a G rating is too harsh! You will love it!  
  
Andy had invited Nina over that night while Ephram and Lilly went to the party. Delia was at a slumber party. They had not been able to spend any time together since she had kissed him. He really wanted their relationship to go farther, but things had gotten weird. Every time he saw her it was like he was in high school and he had a huge crush on her. She had noticed the weirdness and tried to act as normal as possible. When he invited her over she was excited to see what happened. First they went for a walk. They talked like normal and Nina really enjoyed herself. Andy noticed how beautiful she looked. How could he not notice this before? It was so obvious. She smiled at him and looked around the neighborhood.  
"That is where I lived before Carl and I were married. God I hated that house. Now I wish I could have it back. It is so weird what you miss when you get older' Nina said while pointing to an older house. It was pretty small and very well kept up, but it looked homey. Unlike his old apartment in New York.  
"Its charming. I wish I could go around and say where I use to live or what I used to do and where, but I can't. You are so lucky. I love it here, I wish I had listened to Julia earlier and came sooner. I was so ignorant back then. One day, on Delia's birthday, I didn't come home for like two days. I missed her fifth birthday. I also missed Ephram's thirteenth birthday and just about all of Julia's and my own. Even when I was there, I was on a cell phone or talking to a colleague. I wish I could go back and change those days. All the things I missed, I just wish I could see them. I remember one time Delia fell and broke her arm. I wasn't there to be with her in the hospital, I didn't even notice until it had been two weeks after she had her cast," said Andy. Nina listened and tried to imagine Andy being distant. She just couldn't, he was not like that anymore.  
"Well you've made a full 180( turn. I can't even imagine you not being there for Delia or Ephram, if I didn't know better you would think Lilly was you daughter too. When you told me about her transcript you were glowing. Julia would be proud,"  
Andy smiled, he loved the fact that dhe could talk about Julia to Nina and she wouldn't get weird. Linda [Harold Sis.] would have been quiet and then changed the subject. He realized then that he never really loved Linda, he was infatuated with her. She was exotic and different, yet she was down to earth and normal. Nina was perfect, she was simple and he enjoyed her company.  
"Nina, I know things have gotten weird, but I want to make this work. I think you are wonderful and perfect, I don't want to scare you away or get scared away. What can we do to make this work," Andy was pleading with her, he truly meant every word that he said.  
Nina had been thinking about this, she had planned out what she would say if something like this was brought up, but she had forgotten everything when she saw Andy. She was silent, Andy didn't know what she was thinking. Though he had many strengths, women was not one of them. He had no idea what Nina's silence meant.  
After a while of gathering her thoughts she finally spoke, "I think we need to take things slow, I want to be with you but I've just come out of a divorce and I can't handle anything too drastic. Plus we both have kids. We need to see how they think about everything and get them used to the idea of us dating. What do you think?"  
"That sounds like a plan," Andy smiled and held her hand as they continued their walk. When it got to the point that they couldn't see anymore they walked back home. They sat on the couch and watched Meet me in St. Louis, since Nina loved it so much.  
When it was really late they heard Ephram come in with Lilly. They decided not to bother him and just finish their movie. When it was over Nina went home and Andy went to bed. He was a little frustrated because one of the songs was stuck in his head. After about an hour of tossing around in his bed singing the song over and over in his head, he finally fell asleep.  
  
Lilly woke up hearing the phone ring, she grumbled and went to go get it.  
"Hello?" she said. She had no idea on how she got into the house. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the car.  
"Lilly, could you come get me. I think Dad forgot. He was supposed to get me an hour ago," it was Delia.  
"Sure sweetie, I'll be bight over. It'll just be ten minutes," Lilly hung the phone up and went to the car. She was still fully dressed from the night before so that saved time. She grabbed a hair brush and brushed her hair on the way over. She was wondering why Andy hadn't come to get Delia. He must have had a late night or something. Lilly finally pulled into the driveway of the house that Delia was at and she climbed out to help Delia get her stuff.  
"Thank you for getting me," said Delia. She looked a little embarrassed and Lilly thought she must look terrible.  
"No problem sweetie, are you okay?" Lilly was concerned about her, she looked like her dog had died or something.  
"Yeah, I just want to go home," said Delia. She ran into the car and buckled up.  
"Sweetie what is wrong?" Lilly asked while they pulled out of the drive way.  
Delia looked down at her feat, something was bothering her and she wouldn't saw what. Finally she got the nerve to say it, "Everyone at the party had a bra except for me,"  
Lilly tried not to laugh. "Sweetie, I know how that feels. Everyone grows at a different rate then other people. Honey, when I was your age I was the only girl in my class who hadn't hit her growth spurt. I was still so short and everyone else towered over me. Then after a while I noticed that I had grown quite a bit. Then I stopped and I haven't grown since. I am the same height now as I was three years ago. It just takes a while,"  
"But I need a bra, all my friends said I did and I think so too. I wasn't supposed to go home this early, I just wanted you to take me shopping for a bra," Delia and her friends had planned it all out. She knew her dad wouldn't take her and only Lilly would be able to.  
Lilly laughed a little. "Okay, but I'm calling your dad to tell him that I have you and I'm telling him what we're doing. Don't give me that look I do not want to be on the wrong side with your dad,"  
Delia sighed, she had hoped her dad would never have to know. Lilly just laughed at her. She picked up her cell phone and dialed home.  
"Hello?" Ephram wasn't happy to hear the phone so early that morning. He was hoping to sleep in.  
"Hey baby, can I talk to you dad?" said Lilly.  
Ephram didn't say anything but went to go find his dad.  
"Hello?" Andy said.  
"Hey Andy, I went to pick up Delia, she called for me and I went to pick her up. I just want you to know that she called so we could go shopping for bras."  
"What?" Andy sounded like he dropped something.  
"Yeah, um we'll be back in about an hour or so. If it is okay with you,"  
"Oh, sure. Just tell me, why bras?" Andy sounded like he had heard the most shocking news of the century and it almost was.  
"Her friends all had them and now she must have one. Aren't you glad you are a boy?"  
"Yeah, just be careful, okay?" said Andy with a laugh.  
"We will," Lilly hung the phone up and put it back in her purse. "Your dad almost had a panic attack when I told him what we were doing. It'll be okay though. I know this cute little store that has awesome bras for first timers. They are so cute. I wanted to get some for myself but that just wouldn't work,"  
Delia smiled. She was so happy to have a girl to shop for bras with. It would have been way too hard to do this with Dad or Ephram.  
"So, any other reason you want a bra?" Lilly wasn't stupid. She remembered why she wanted her fist bra. His name was Jeremy.  
"Well there is this boy, and he is so cute. He acts like I'm a guy, and I hate that. I want him to think of me as a girl and I thought he would notice me if I wore a bra," Delia was so glad this was not Dad.  
"Ah, I had that same problem. Guys are so weird. Why don't they just do what we tell them so we can relax and be ourselves," Lilly said as she pulled up to the store she had described.  
Delia smiled, Lilly made this whole experience a whole lot less uncomfortable.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! 


	14. I can't think of a name! You decide!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Everwood characters; I just love them very dearly. I want everyone to know the reason I am making Ephram and Lilly pay for the baby. When Ephram and Lilly go away to college, he wants to know that they can support it. He doesn't want them to depend on him and then have nothing for the baby when it was born.  
  
"I didn't know there were that many different sizes for bras," said Delia on the way back home. She was so happy to finally have bras. Lilly was awesome, she had picked out the cutest bras and figured out her size.  
"Welcome to the women club. It sucks, most of the time," said Lilly. She started to change the station until she heard a song that she liked. It was Brittany's song Toxic.  
Delia got nervous, "Why?"  
"We have baby's, have periods, wear bras, and tight pants. It can't get much worse," Lilly laughed  
Delia smiled. Lilly didn't make everything as uncomfortable as Andy did, she was glad she was going to have her whenever she had a period or something.  
Lilly sang along with the radio and Delia sang along with her. When they got home Delia got a little nervous, now she had to face her dad. Lilly smiled at her and they went in. Andy was sitting at the kitchen table eating. He looked a little hurt; he had wanted to be there for Delia when she wanted to get something like a bra. Yeah, he wasn't crazy about his baby getting a bra, but he wanted to be there for her.  
"Delia, can I talk to you?" he said when he saw they had come in.  
Delia walked over and took a seat across from him. Lilly left the room and went to find Ephram.  
"Delia, why didn't you tell me about this?" Andy asked.  
Delia looked at her feat. "I just wanted a girl to buy a bra with. I know you care Dad, but I just wanted to go with someone who would know what they were doing. You get lost when we go clothes shopping,"  
Andy laughed, "It'll be okay. I just want you to know that I won't turn you away from something that you really want. Just come to me when you need something next time okay?"  
Delia smiled and then ran to her room to put her things away. Lilly and Ephram heard her run by and pulled away from the make out session that was in progress. Lilly blushed and Ephram kissed her forehead. Lilly had enjoyed being close with him. She hadn't been able to since school had started. Ephram stood up from the floor and helped Lilly up, and they went down stairs. Andy smiled at them and they went outside. They walked down the street talking and laughing until they saw Amy. She was walking towards them and broke into a run to try to catch up with them.  
"Can I talk to you Ephram?" Amy said.  
Ephram looked at Lilly and squeezed her hand. He walked over to the side with Amy.  
"I want to work this out. Just leave her and be with me. It's not like your married or anything. I want to make this work," Amy said in a low voice so Lilly couldn't hear.  
Ephram was taken back. "I can't,"  
Amy looked over his face to see if e was kidding or if he didn't mean it. He wasn't kidding and he really meant it. "Why? What does she have that I don't? I just want to know,"  
"She doesn't worry about just herself. She cares about others and me around her. You have been stuck on yourself since I met you. All you care about is yourself and I can't stand it. You only dated me because no one else would. I'm sick of being what you go to last. You only care about yourself," Ephram said. He had been holding this back forever. When he saw Amy's face he wish he had held it longer.  
She was hurt, he could tell that, but he had been hurt so many times. Why does she always get to be comforted? Amy stormed off. Ephram walked back over to Lilly and held her hand as they continued to walk.  
"What was that about?" Lilly asked as they got a good way away from Amy.  
Ephram was quiet for a while. He was so mad that Amy would ask him to leave Lilly. If she would get off her pedestal and see what was going on she would see that he was happy with Lilly. Lilly respected Ephram and she listened to him. Amy always wanted everything to be her way, and she wouldn't listen to him. He always talked about things she wanted to talk about instead of what he wanted to talk about.  
Lilly watched his face as he fumed in his head. She told him that he didn't need to tell her and she just laid her head on his shoulder. Finally after an hour of walking Ephram finally spoke, "Would you mind going to visit Madison with me?" Ephram felt he needed to go see her, to see if he could help her in any way.  
Lilly nodded and they went to her house. They walked up her sidewalk and Ephram knocked on the door. After a few minutes Madison came to the door. She was shocked to see Ephram and Lilly, but she graciously let them in. Ephram and Lilly took seat on Madison's couch and Madison sat in a chair.  
"So, what brings you guys over to visit?" Madison said after a long awkward silence.  
"I've needed to talk to you for a while Madison. I mean we've talked on the phone, but I need to talk to you in person. Are you sure you're okay with this, with Lilly and I having custody of the baby?" Ephram said leaning over and setting his arms on his knees.  
Madison was quiet for a while. She wanted to think over her decision before she said anything. She was happy that Ephram was going to have custody, but her baby calling someone else Mommy? Would she be able to handle that? Would she be able to handle a bay calling her Mommy? Deep down she knew the answer. "I'm going to be okay with it. I can't handle a baby, and I don't want one. I want to go out and be me,"  
Ephram sighed and leaned back. He could tell that this is what Madison wanted. He felt relieved. This had been bothering him since they had decided to keep it.  
"Just one thing," said Madison, "I want to be a part of its life. I want to be able to see it when I'm in town. I want it to know that I'm its real mother,"  
"Of course," said Lilly, "We wouldn't want it any other way. We want you to be there for it,"  
Madison smiled. Again, Lilly always said what she wanted to hear. Ephram wrapped his arm around Lilly's waist and laid his head on her shoulder. Madison smiled at their affection; it seemed like only yesterday Ephram did the same the same with her.  
"Madison, I'm sorry to bring this up, but Ephram and I were talking and we were wondering, what would you want to name the baby?" said Lilly. This thought had been killing her.  
Madison hadn't thought of that. It made everything so real. "I don't know, I've always liked the name Claire for a girl and Nathan for a boy,"  
"Those sound great, what do you think Lilly?" said Ephram.  
"It's not my decision, it's between you two," she responded. Lilly did love those names, but she didn't want to seem like a third wheel or something.  
"It's your decision too. You are going to be a big part of this baby's life. What do you think?" asked Madison.  
"They're beautiful names," Lilly said.  
For the rest of the visit they talked about everything they would need to do, baby showers, registering, and legal papers they would need to sign. After an hour, Ephram and Lilly left and made their way home. The earlier instance with Amy had left Ephram's mind as he pondered the thought of being a father. It did frighten him, the thought of being in charge of a human that wasn't him. He just knew that it was what he wanted. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he knew that somewhere he had a child and he could never hold it.  
Lilly noticed Ephram's silence on the way home, she was worried that he was having second thoughts or he wanted to be back with Madison. She rolled her eyes at herself she was so paranoid. She had to trust Ephram; she knew that they loved each other, so why did she always feel the need to compete with Madison? Lilly just pushed the thought to the side and kept on walking. When they got home they found Nina and Andy sitting together at the table. They asked Ephram and Lilly if they wanted to sit with them. They declined and ran upstairs. Nina and Andy sat together in silence for a while.  
"So, what if I got Lilly and Ephram to baby-sit Delia and Sam tonight and we could go out somewhere?" asked Andy after a while. He wanted to take Nina a=on a splendid romantic dinner, but where was the problem he was having.  
"Where?" asked Nina getting excited. The last time she had been taken out on a date, it involved Sam and McDonalds.  
"It will be a surprise, just the two of us, what do you think?" Andy was starting to run through his head every restaurant in town, he could not think of one that didn't involve fast food.  
"I would love to, do you think Lilly and Ephram will mind though?"  
Ephram was sure Lilly wouldn't mind but Ephram might have a problem. "Let me go ask,"  
Andy made his way upstairs and knocked on Ephram's door. Ephram got up and let him in.  
"What were you two doing in here?" said Andy looking at them suspiciously.  
"Actually, Lilly was helping me study for a big test I have tomorrow. Isn't that right?" said Ephram trying to make up a lie as quickly as possible. Lilly nodded.  
"Really? Then why are there no books open?" said Andy.  
"I just know the subject right of the top of my head and I hear that it is a good way to study if you have no reference to cheat from," said Lilly, trying her best not to laugh.  
Andy just shook his head. What did he expect from two teenagers living under the same roof? "I just came up to ask if it would be okay if you guys would watch Delia and Sam tonight when Nina and I go out?"  
Lilly and Ephram nodded and Andy left. Before he made it all the way downstairs, he went to find the yellow pages. He wanted to see if there were any fancy restaurants that he could take Nina. He flipped through and found one that sounded good. He called the place and made reservations and he went back down to talk to Nina.  
"What did they say?" said Nina when she saw Andy coming down the stairs.  
"They said that they would," said Andy. All of a sudden he got the urge to kiss Nina. He didn't know why, maybe because that is what his son was doing with his girlfriend right above his head, but he just felt the need. So he took his chances and leaned in. Nina smiled and closed her eyes as she leaned in to receive her kiss. When he reached her lips it felt like something she had been waiting for since she was born. It felt perfect and so right. He felt the same and he lifted her from her seat. After a while Andy pulled away, she laughed at him, and he laughed with her. When they finally stopped laughing, they sat back down. Soon afterwards Nina went home to get ready. Andy went up to check on Delia and found that she was in her room talking to Lilly.  
"What are you girls talking about?" asked Andy.  
"Nothing, just girl things. Dad why is Lilly and Ephram watching Sam and I tonight?" asked Delia.  
"Well, Nina and I wanted to have some time to ourselves tonight and Lilly wanted to help,"  
Delia nodded and went back with the conversation with Lilly. "So what should I do to get his attention?"  
Lilly laughed, "Just go up and talk to him. Don't do what I did, I thought if I fell and broke my arm a guy that I liked would notice me,"  
"Did he?" asked Delia, that sounded much better than having to go up and talk to him.  
"Well, sort of. He noticed but only because every time I would walk in a room people would call me cripple. So, not all publicity is good publicity," said Lilly remembering how stupid she was when she was younger.  
Delia decided not to break her arm. "How can I just go up and talk to him?"  
"Just go up and say hi, it won't kill you. What is this boys name anyways?" said Lilly.  
"Jake," said Delia, who smiled to herself just saying his name.  
Lilly laughed at the way Delia was acting; she had such a huge crush on that guy. "He sounds wonderful. Now, are you hungry?"  
Delia nodded and they went down stairs. Lilly scanned the refrigerator to find something to eat. She pulled out some meat and vegetables and began to cook. Delia sat and watched her. Every once in a while Delia would go off to get things for her.  
"What do you want to do tonight?" asked Lilly-mixing things together.  
"Could we have a talent show, like American Idol. You and Ephram could be the judge and Sam and I could be the contestants? We could invite some of my friends over and we could have more people and an audience to vote. We did that at my slumber party," said Delia.  
"Sure, just go ask your dad if it's okay to have friends over though," said Lilly.  
Delia ran up the stairs to find her dad. He was staring in the mirror of his room. He looked very nice and Delia laughed, "Dad, can I invite friends over tonight?"  
Andy jumped out of his skin. He had no idea Delia was standing behind him. "Sure," he said after he regained composure. "Who are you going to invite?"  
"Oh just a few friends so we can play American Idol. I will win this time because Lilly and Ephram will be the judge. They will most definitely pick me," said Delia.  
Andy smiled and went back to getting ready. Delia was so happy, she got to have her friends over! She stopped by Ephram's room and found him looking through music.  
"Is there something wrong?" he asked when he saw her.  
"No, I was just wondering if you would play American Idol with Lilly and me. You can be Simon," said Delia.  
Ephram looked back down at the music and sighed. It would have to wait. He did love being Simon. "Sure,"  
Delia smiled and ran to find the phone. She called all of her friends and invited them over. When she was done she went down stairs. She saw Lilly throwing away what she had cooked. Delia looked at her strange, "What's wrong?"  
"Oh," she said when she saw Delia, "I left out the secret ingredient so it tastes like crap. I'll order pizza,"  
Delia laughed and went to set up the living room. When she was finally done Andy had come down to say good-bye. He left the house and went to go pick up Nina; he walked over and knocked on his door. When Nina opened the door, he was taken back. She looked gorgeous, she was wearing a long black dress and her hair was up in a fancy twist. She smiled at him and was thinking the same thing about him. He reached out his hand and she took it. Nina called Sam and he came running. They walked him over to Andy's house and Lilly took over from there. Andy and Lilly walked to Andy's car and they took off. He tried to remember where the place was as she fiddled with the radio.  
"You look beautiful," said Andy when he felt comfortable enough to speak.  
Nina blushed, "I haven't worn this in a really long time. Probably before Sam was born. You don't look so bad yourself,"  
Andy smiled and unconsciously put his hand on hers. They rode in silence for a while except for Nina singing along with the radio. When Andy finally pulled into the restaurant parking lot, Nina gasped.  
"What's wrong?" Andy said as he looked at her face.  
Nina sat there in amazement; she couldn't believe this place was still standing. "This is where Carl and I had our first date,"  
Andy got a little uncomfortable. "Do you want to go somewhere else?"  
"No, I love it here. In fact, I think this is the last place I wore this dress," Nina said smiling at Andy.  
Andy smiled back and he led her into the restaurant.  
  
"That was awful, bloody awful!" said Ephram in his fake British accent.  
"Your voice, it has something. I don't know what it is, but it is something beautiful and happy, and pretty!" said Lilly trying to sound sickly sweet and getting a little tickled at herself.  
"Yo dog! Gee homey gee! Yo dog doggidy dog, dog!" said Bright who had stopped by at the request of Ephram.  
The little girl who had sung for them laughed and waited to be let into the show.  
"Yo, dog I say yes!" said Bright.  
"Yes!" said Lilly with a sweet smile.  
"Well, I guess I don't matter. You're going to Hollywood," said Ephram crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.  
The little girl smiled and sat down. They finished the rest of the people until it was time for the finals. Right when they were about to start the pizza guy came to the door. Lilly ran up to go get it. After she paid the guy all the girls, Sam, and Bright came and attacked the pizza. Ephram walked over to Lilly, wrapped his arms around her waist, and laid his head on her shoulder. She held his arms and laid her head on his head. All the girls started to look at them and laugh, but they didn't care. Finally when they finished the pizza the girls went home. Bright stayed and helped clean up.  
"You two are all over each other," he said in disgust.  
Ephram laughed at him and Lilly blushed. After they finished, Bright left and Ephram and Lilly cuddled on the couch to watch a movie. Sam and Delia had passed out on the floor. After the movie was over Ephram and Lilly had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Soon afterward Andy walked in and leaned himself against the wall. His date had gone extremely well. Andy went to find Sam and carried him back to Nina. When he got over there Nina was in the middle of taking her hair down.  
"Thank you," she whispered taking Sam from him.  
"No problem," he said as he leaned in and kissed her.  
Nina was afraid she would drop Sam, but Andy took him from her and went to put him to bed. Nina went to the bathroom and tried to finish taking down her hair. She was surprised when Andy had come behind her. He started to kiss her neck and she giggled. She shocked herself, she hadn't giggled in years. She turned around and found his mouth. He kissed her and it felt so good. She needed to be kissed; she hadn't been in so long. He pulled away and told her good night. He made his way back to his house and put Delia to bed. He then came back downstairs and wondered how he was going to wake them. They looked so cute together he hated to wake them. He decided to get a pillow and cover them up. He made his way to his own bed when he realized how tired he was. He laid down in his bed and passed out immediately.  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! I am a Sophomore! Eugapae! (Hooray) Wow, that was a long chapter! Sorry it was so long! 


	15. A Song

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Everwood characters. I just love them dearly.  
  
Ephram walked into the auditorium to start rehearsing. He set his book bag down and searched for some music. He laid it up on the music holder on the piano, closed his eyes, and started to play. He completely let go as he pressed down the keys to the ever-familiar song. After it was over he opened his eyes scribbled something down on the sheet. He then pulled out a peace of music he had been working on. It was for Lilly. He knew that he had tried this with Madison; he had a feeling that Lilly would appreciate it more. He scribbled on the sheet and then put it up so he could read it. He started to play and gave up half way through. He thrust his hands down on the keys in frustration. He couldn't make it sound right. He was never going to have it finished by her birthday, which was next week. He knew that he could just go out and buy something, but that would feel so mundane. He had remembered the way she acted when he told her that he had wrote a song for Madison. She said she had always wanted someone to do that for her. Ephram sighed and scribbled something down. Just then He saw someone come into the auditorium. He was surprised to see that it was Lilly. She smiled and came down next to him. He quickly stuffed her song into his pocket.  
"What are you working on?" she asked laying her head on his shoulder.  
"Just things the professor asked. Why are you here?" He said arranging different music and started to play.  
"I was tired of hearing about who was wearing what, when and what she spilled on it. I wanted to be with you," she said as she kissed his cheek.  
Ephram smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the lips. He lifted his hands from the piano, put them around her waist, and pulled her closer. She responded by wrapping her arms around his shoulders. All of a sudden they heard the door open and they pulled away immediately. When they looked to the door they saw Amy standing there with a look of disgust on her face. She stormed out of the auditorium and Ephram ran after her, leaving Lilly by herself.  
Ephram ran towards her as she made her way down the hall. When he finally caught up with her he spun her, forcing her to look at him.  
"What?" Amy asked through bared teeth.  
"What is wrong?" he said looking into her eyes. He could see that she was hurt and it killed him. He had always loved Amy, and it was hard to see her sad.  
"Nothing is wrong. Why would anything be wrong? I mean, I only just witnessed you in a make out session with your girlfriend," she said trying to pull away, but he had a tight grip on her shoulders.  
"I know you, you're not okay. If you would just come out and say what is wrong then you wouldn't feel or look so depressed," Ephram said with a look of concern in his eyes. She did look terrible. She looked as if she hadn't slept in days and hadn't washed her hair either.  
Amy looked at him with detestation. "Fine, I'll tell you," she said trying to fight back tears. "I don't think this is fair. You said you wanted us to work, but you turned around and cheated. You said you loved me and now you're with someone else. Why? Why do you want us to be apart when I want us to be together?"  
Ephram kept looking into her eyes. She was pleading with him to come back to her. Nevertheless he couldn't. At one point in his life he would have killed himself to be with Amy, and now he was turning her down. "I just can't do the me and you thing. I would have loved to do that, but I can't. But I do care about you, I hate that you're hurting and I want you to just let me go. Even if we dated though, I would always wonder if Colin was on your mind. You never stop thinking about him or standing up for him. You just have to let go,"  
Amy looked at him in confusion. How could he say that? She was over Colin, plus that was her boyfriend and he died and she was still going to think about him. Without noticing it she had started to cry. Ephram hugged her and she laid her head on his chest. When she finally brought herself together she pulled away.  
"Thank you, Ephram. I really needed that," she said and then walked away.  
He turned and went back to the auditorium and found Lilly still waiting, looking through his music. When he came in the room she looked up at him and sighed.  
"What happened?" she asked when he sat down.  
"I think she's okay now. So, where were we?" he said with a mischievous smile as he leaned into kiss her.  
Right when Lilly put her arms around his shoulder though, the bell rang. They pulled back and sighed.  
"Can you skip next period?" Ephram asked hopefully.  
"No, I have Latin and Mr. Adams would kill me if I wasn't there. We are learning about Cato today," said Lilly grabbing her purse and her books.  
Ephram sighed and grabbed his books. He walked Lilly to her class and then went to his own. On the way he thought about what he would have to do to make Lilly's song better.  
  
The bell rang and Lilly ran out her classroom door. It was finally the end of a long Monday. She went to her locker and opened it; she shoved all of her books in there and then pulled out her bag for practice. She met up with Daniel and they went down to the gym together. Halfway there, Ephram caught up with her. Daniel smiled at him and kept walking. Ephram slid his hand into Lilly's and kissed her neck. Lilly giggled pushed him away since she was ticklish. When they made it to the gym they kissed each other goodbye and Ephram left. Lilly stared in envy as he left the school, wishing that she could go home and nap. Daniel nudged her and she turned around. Coming towards her was Amy. Lilly looked at Daniel to see if she knew what was going on, but Daniel just shrugged.  
"Can I talk to Lilly alone for a minute?" Amy said as she reached them.  
Daniel nodded a little unsurely and then left. Amy pulled Lilly to the side, and started to bite her nail. Lilly noticed that she didn't look angry or tense; instead she looked relaxed and friendly.  
"I'm sorry that I was rude to you and caused you to fell unwelcome, I just felt unwanted and I wanted you to feel the same. I'm sorry," she said sticking her hand out for Lilly to shake it.  
Lilly took her hand and they shook. Amy left and Lilly went back over to Daniel. When their coach, Claire, called them they ran over to stretch. Lilly couldn't help but think if Amy was sincere. She seemed to be, but she could be faking. Why would she fake? Just so she would put her guard down so she could make a move on Ephram? Lilly tried not to think about it, but in the back of her mind, she couldn't stop wondering.  
  
Ephram sat in his car waiting for Lilly's practice to let out. He had finally had a break through with the song that seemed to go perfectly with Lilly. He scribbled on the paper bearing down on the steering wheel. Ever once in a while he would hit the horn and the people parked in front of him would flip him off. When he was done he leaned back and looked at it. He had to hear it. He looked at his watch to see if he had time to run to the auditorium. He had ten minutes. That wasn't enough time, but he needed to hear it immediately. He taped his fingers on his leg and then finally he got out of the car and ran. If he got there quick enough and ran through it, he would be back in time. He ran through the halls and down to the auditorium. He pushed the doors open and ran to the piano. He set the music down and went through the song as quickly as possible. It was perfect; to him it reminded him of Lilly. He laughed and pulled the song down. He had forgotten his hurry and slowly walked back to the car. When he got outside he noticed that Lilly was by herself leaning against the car. She was looking around for him and when she saw him she took a sigh of relief. She waved at him and he come to run towards him. Half way there he realized he still had the song in his hand, so he stuffed it in his pocket. When he reached the car he kissed her and let her in.  
"Where were you?" she said as she got into the car, "I was worried,"  
"I had to go put something in my locker. I thought I had enough time, but I guess I didn't," he lied as he buckled himself in.  
Lilly nodded and turned the radio. "That reminds me, I need to get a new license. I still have one from Georgia and I need a new one. Do you know when I can take the test?"  
"We can set one up this weekend if you want to," he said still feeling overjoyed that he had finally written a good song.  
Lilly looked at him suspiciously. He was smiling pretty widely and tapping his hand on the steering wheel. "What's up with you?"  
"Nothing, why would you say that?" he said leaning over and kissing her cheek when they reached a stop sign.  
Lilly gave him a crazy look. "Are you sick?" she said feeling his head.  
Ephram laughed a little, "No, I just...I can't tell you. Just trust me, you'll know in a week,"  
Lilly shook her head, but didn't press the matter. She then remembered her birthday was in a week. That made her smile, "Can I guess why you're happy?"  
"Sure," he said shrugging.  
"Does it have to do with my birthday?" she said starting to smile.  
"Maybe," Ephram said starting to look at her from the corner of his eye. He refused to tell her what it was. It was their first holiday together and he would not give away his secret.  
Lilly smiled, "Did you buy it from a store?"  
"Maybe," he started to roll his eyes.  
"Did you buy it at all?" she asked getting frustrated.  
"Maybe," hey, he wasn't lying. He bought the paper and pen he wrote it with from a store.  
Lilly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She had to find someway to pull this out of him. Lilly finally gave up asking and put her arms to the side. Ephram slid his hands into hers and she squeezed it.  
"So, what are we going to do tonight?" asked Ephram as he pulled onto Main Street.  
"How about you and I go out somewhere, we haven't been able to do things like that since we got here. What do you think?" she said.  
"Great, I know the perfect place. I took Laney there one time and it had the best jazz ever," he said, but remembering how that date crashed and burned.  
"Who's Laney?" she asked.  
Ephram tried to remember if he told Lilly about Laney. Then he realized he hadn't. "I dated her before Madison. It didn't last long though. She was Colin's sister and I was obsessed with Amy then. That was before Colin even died. Wow, a lot has happened since then,"  
Lilly nodded. "You must have really been in love with Amy. Are you still?"  
Ephram bit his lip; he knew if he told her about his obsession of Amy that it would raise questions. "I do care about Amy, I couldn't have known her all of this time and been through so much with her without having some kind of feelings. I don't love her like I love you, but I do love her,"  
Lilly raised her eyebrows. She felt weird talking about how he felt about his old girlfriend, but it was better to get this conversation out now then later.  
"What?" he asked when he saw her face, "I just told you the truth. I do love her a little. It's like how I feel about Delia,"  
Lilly nodded, "I understand, I'm not upset. I'm just listening, to see if you want to talk a little more about it,"  
Ephram didn't want to talk about it. He just wanted to talk about fun things, so much crap had happened in his life, he was sick of talking about depressing things or things he didn't want to talk about. "I'm good, I don't want to talk about it,"  
All the happiness from before had left him. He let go of Lilly's hand and kept driving.  
"Ephram don't be upset. I'm not forcing you to talk. Stop throwing a fit, I swear in six months I'm going to be taking care of two babies," said Lilly. She was fed up with his wallowing-in-how-pitiful-he-was-moods.  
Ephram lightened up a little and held Lilly's hand again. "So, do you forgive me?"  
"Of course I do. I'm not one to hold a grudge. So, does my birthday present smell pretty?" she said scooting over closer to him.  
"No, oh crap!" he forgot, no concrete answers, "I mean, maybe,"  
Lilly laughed, so her present wasn't perfume or it was perfume, but it just smelled bad.  
"You are sneaky," he said kissing her hand.  
"I know, but that is why you love me," she said placing her free hand on his leg.  
Ephram smiled as they pulled up to their house. They walked into the house and Lilly got ready for their date that she had almost forgotten about. She put on a baby blue dress with matching strappy heels. She washed her face and applied new make up and brushed her hair straight. Then she found a purse that went well with her dress. Then she hurried downstairs and waited for Ephram. She chatted with Delia who was doing her homework at the table. Soon, she saw Ephram coming down the stairs. He took her breath away with the simplicity of his gorgeousness. He felt the same way with her and immediately went over to kiss her. She became weak in the knees as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Delia made gagging noises while she watched them kiss, forcing them to break apart. Ephram rolled his eyes at her as they started to leave.  
"Hold on one second," Ephram said. He needed to tell his dad where he was going. He ran into the kitchen and picked up the phone off of the table. He started to dial Andy's work number and waited for him to answer. He had to work late that day and so he wouldn't be home until later.  
"Hello?" answered Edna, who was in the middle of eating dinner and was irritable. She had to work with her son now and that always made her angry.  
"Hi, Edna, I need to talk to my dad," Ephram said tapping the counter.  
"Sure," she went into his office and told him Ephram was on the phone.  
"Hello, is there anything wrong Ephram?" said Andy picking up the phone in his office.  
"No, I was just telling you that Lilly and I were going out and won't be back until later,"  
"Who's going to watch Delia?" he asked.  
"I was thinking, Nina could,"  
"Okay, just don't stay out too late. Have fun," Andy said hanging up the phone.  
Ephram hung up too, "Delia go over to Nina's, she is going to watch you tonight okay?"  
"Fine," said Delia rolling her eyes. She packed up her things and walked over to Nina's house.  
Ephram walked back to the car and helped Lilly in. When he got in the car, he turned the on and the song Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch was playing.  
"I love this song," Lilly said turning the song up louder.  
Ephram started to listen to the lyrics and he decided he liked it too. "Maybe this could be our song?"  
"Wow, that sounds serious. Are you sure we want to be tied down like that?" joked Lilly, getting a little sentimental.  
Ephram smiled and leaned over to kiss her. "I think we are already tied down, remember?" he said kissing the finger with her engagement ring on it.  
She smiled to herself, "So this is our song? It's perfect,"  
  
Madisa Delinda Est! 


	16. Late Morning

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah! Does anyone even read this?  
  
Ephram and Lilly stood in line at the club and Lilly got a little worried. They were checking IDs. Ephram pulled out his wallet and got out an ID she hadn't seen before. When she looked closer she saw that his name was different. She didn't say anything but she gave him a look. He just gave her a look to say that he would tell her inside. When they got to the guy checking IDs, Ephram handed the man his. He looked at it and nodded letting him in, then he turned to Lilly to see if she had any ID.  
"Oh," she said looking through her purse, "Oh, damn! I didn't drive so I didn't grab it. I came with him," she said pointing to Ephram.  
The man rolled his eyes and let her in. When they found a seat Ephram kicked him under the table.  
"Ow! What was that about?" he said rubbing his shin.  
"Why don't you tell me? Why do you have a fake ID?" she asked. She was furious, yes everyone had a fake ID, but she wouldn't expect Ephram to.  
"I got one a while back ago. I just really like this place, and wanted to share it with you. We won't drink any alcohol; I know you're the epitome of moral rectitude. I wouldn't want to take your title from you," he said finally letting go of his shin.  
Lilly shook her head at him. "Do you even know what that means?"  
"Not really, but I've heard you say it," he said rolling his eyes.  
Lilly laughed and started to listen to the music. It was wonderful. How could people play like that? "Where did you hear about this place?"  
"My old piano teacher told me to take Laney here, and he wanted me to hear the pianist. He left though, not very long after," Ephram said starting to take in the music.  
Lilly smiled and he grabbed her hand. When the waiter came they ordered coffee and Lilly ordered a cinnamon roll, and Ephram ordered a slice of cheesecake. They talked and listened to the music.  
"Oh my god, guess what happened today," said Lilly slapping the table.  
"What?" said Ephram slapping the table to mock her.  
"Shut up, any way. Guess who talked to me today, and nicely I might add."  
"Who?" asked Ephram.  
"Amy, she just said she was sorry for acting mean towards me and then said she only did it because she felt as it she was unwanted,"  
Ephram raised his eyebrows, that was fast. He didn't expect Amy to warm up to Lilly so quickly; maybe she was really letting go.  
Soon the food came and after they ate Lilly begged Ephram to dance with her.  
"Please! We can wait for a slow song. We don't have to do one that's fast," she said as she rubbed her foot against his leg.  
"No, I can't dance. I'll step on your toes and hurt you and you won't be able to cheer," he said.  
Lilly cocked her head to the side started to bat her eyelashes while she rubbed her finger on his shoulder up and down. "Please Ephram," she asked in the sweetest voice.  
"Fine, just don't say I didn't warn you. You really know how to play me," he said giving her a fake evil look.  
Lilly smiled and winked at him as she started to sing the chorus to Orange Sky to herself. Finally they played a slow song and Lilly lead Ephram to the dance floor. He was reluctant at first and then he finally gave in. When they reached the floor Ephram pulled her close to him and she laid her head on his shoulder while he laid his head on her head. Lilly was surprised to see how well he danced. It wasn't professional material, but it was well enough so that he wouldn't step on her toes. He twirled her around the floor and when the song was over they went to their seat. They finished off their food and paid for it. They left and went to their car laughing. They hadn't had fun like that since New York. They both didn't want the night to end, so Ephram asked if she wanted to see a movie.  
"Your choice, I just want to be with you a little longer," begged Ephram "Please, I danced for you,"  
"I knew that would come back and bite me in the ass. Fine, just call your dad," she said putting her things down and then sitting in the car.  
Ephram sat next to her and then dialed home.  
"Hello?" said Andy, he had just walked in the door and was a little frazzled.  
"Hey Dad, I was wondering if Lilly and I could go see a movie before we get home," said Ephram starting to tap a beat in the steering wheel.  
"Um...sure, just don't stay out too late," he said putting his things down.  
"Thanks Dad," Ephram said then he hung up the phone. "We can go. So what do you want to see?"  
Lilly thought about it, "I don't care, just as long as it isn't a war movie, unless there are cute guys and they're shirtless in the movie,"  
Ephram rolled his eyes, women never cared for good war movies, but they love romantic movies where people die. As they made their way to the theater, the talked about a variety of subjects and they laughed together. They hadn't been able to talk like this since New York. Ephram missed being there, it was so much nicer and less complicated. Lilly felt the same way, but she did like being in Everwood. Ephram was a great guy, but he was even better when he was where he belonged. She could tell he loved New York, but he just didn't seem as at home there as he did here. Ephram pulled into the parking lot and helped Lilly out of the car. They picked a movie and barely watched it; they were busy making out in the back seat. When the movie was over, they didn't notice, so the ushers came and told them they had to leave. Ephram led Lilly back to the car and pressed her against the door. His hands were holding her head and she cuddled her arms around his shoulders. Finally he pulled away and they left. When they got in the car they noticed it was two in the morning. They laughed and then made their way back home. Lilly was tired and fell asleep against Ephram's shoulder. While she slept Ephram listened to the radio, and when he pulled up to the house, their song came on. He got a goofy grin on his face and started to play with Lilly's hair. Lilly woke up after Ephram had accidentally pulled her hair a little too hard. When she heard their song she smiled and gave Ephram a kiss. He smiled down at her and then carried her inside. He laid her down on her bed and then he went to his own room. He passed out fully clothed on top of his covers.  
  
Lilly woke up and looked at the clock, it was eight o'clock; she had thirty minutes until school started. She got up in a hurry and ran to brush her hair. She had no time to change or shower. She reapplied her make up and then ran to wake everyone up. "Wake up everyone! We're late!" she shouted as she ran to find her school things.  
Andy woke hearing here shouting and hoped out of bed, quickly changing. Lilly ran to wake Ephram and Delia. When they woke they all ran to get ready. Lilly waited in the car until Ephram came out. He quickly turned on the car and quickly drove to school, praying that there weren't any police officers on that road. They mad it to school five minutes before the bell rang and they ran to dance.  
"Very nice attire, Lilly. Are you planning to go clubbing this afternoon?" asked Mrs. Fowler, the dance instructor.  
"Sorry, I was running late this morning and this is what I wore when I fell asleep," said Lilly going to change into her dance clothes.  
Amy went to follow her. "Are you okay?" she said when they were alone in the dressing room  
"Yeah, I just forgot to set my alarm," she said taking a dressing room, "Hey do you have any extra shoes?"  
"Yeah, let me get some," Amy said looking through her bag. She pulled out some shoes that she had as a spare and threw them over to her.  
"Thank you," she said as she slipped out of the dressing area.  
They walked into room and saw that everyone was stretching. Amy and Lilly took their places and started to stretch. On the other side of the school Ephram was sitting in his class thinking about Lilly the night before. She was so beautiful, and he was glad he would get to see her like that again. She was so nervous this morning, she hated being late it throws her whole schedule off. He laughed when he thought of how frantic she was this morning; constantly staring the clock and taping her heal up and down in a rapid motion. It wasn't just her beauty that intrigued him so much though. She was self assured and so well grounded. She was fun and interesting. Mr. McCoy, his science teacher, droned on and Ephram's mind wandered farther. He started to think about the baby and Madison. Even after all of the talks that he had with everyone, he hadn't sat and thought about it himself.  
How was his life going to be different? Would he be able to go to Julliard next year? Would the baby like him, or even scarier, would the baby love him? Was he going to be able to take care of a baby, even with Lilly's help? Ephram shook is head, if he didn't have faith in himself, how could anyone else when they heard the news? He felt he needed to tell someone. He needed to get it off of his chest, but whom could he tell? Bright had left for college not long ago and he really had no other friends. Then he remembered Amy. Would she want to hear about this, most likely not. Ephram sighed and looked at his watch, he had like fifteen seconds until the bell rang. Ephram went to grab his things and put them together. As soon as the bell rang, Ephram took off. In the hall he ran into Lilly, who was on her way to Macroenomics.  
"Hey," she said leaning in to give him a kiss.  
Ephram smiled and kissed her back. "Lilly, I've been thinking. Should we tell someone about the baby?"  
Lilly thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. You should ask Madison, it concerns her way more than me,"  
Ephram nodded, he hated to admit it, but he had to talk to Madison about. Something he was very uncomfortable doing. Lilly went to her class and they kissed each other goodbye. Ephram made his way to his class and sighed. He started to feel so tired. He was ready for the day to be over. He sat in his class and then slowly fell asleep.  
  
Ephram made his way back to the auditorium; he needed to practice the song a little more. He pulled out the paper from his pocket and pt it in the music holder. He put his fingers on the keys, closed his eyes, and took a deep breathe. He opened his eyes again and then began to play. When he normally played a song, he had a scowl on his face because he wanted to concentrate. Now he was smiling and having fun with the music. When the song was over he noticed someone standing at the door. She couldn't be Lilly, because she was too tall. When the person finally walked in farther he could see it was Amy. She was smiling at him and it made him feel a little uncomfortable. She sat next to him and looked at the music.  
"What are you playing?" she asked looking at the music.  
"Um...it's just something I wrote. Nothing wonderful, just a little doodle," he said quickly putting it away.  
"Can you play it for me?" she asked holding his arm so he couldn't put it away.  
"Um...you probably wouldn't want to hear it. It's crap," he said trying to get away from her grip.  
She nodded and let him go. She sighed and started to play with the piano keys. She had taken one lesson when she was five and got tired of it.  
"So, what brings you here?" he asked trying to break the awkward silence.  
"I just wanted to see you. I miss you Ephram. I can't help it. Even if we can't date, can't we just be friends? I'm sick of this awkwardness between us. We used to be friends, and now were like strangers," she said with a pleading look in her eye.  
Ephram squirmed in his seat. He did want to be Amy's friend, but he just didn't think that's what Amy was wanting. He could see in her eyes that she wanted more than friendship. He could also tell because her hand was slowly crawling up his leg. Ephram quickly stood up and paced around the piano.  
"You don't want friendship. I can tell what you want, and I can't give you that. I love Lilly," he said trying not to look her in the eye.  
Amy looked away. He was right; she didn't want to be his friend. She wanted to be his girlfriend. She wanted him to casually put his arm around her shoulder and kiss her when she felt down. She sighed and looked down at the ground. She really did miss him though, she wished she could just call him and have an interesting conversation, or meet up with him for fun activities. When she looked back up at Ephram her eyes were brimmed with tears.  
Ephram felt instantly sorry for her, but he knew that if he ran over and comforted her, he would lead her on someway. "Listen, don't cry. I just can't stand it when you cry. What can we do to make our friendship work?"  
Amy brushed her tears away and stared at the ground. Her attempts to have him hold her were not working. She took a deep breathe and looked back up at him. "Nothing, it's over. We can never work, and it is useless to keep trying. I love you more than as a friend and you don't. It would never work, so let's just leave it. I'm tired of having to try over and over again. Goodbye Ephram,"  
With that Amy left the auditorium and slammed the doors. Ephram stood there and sighed thinking of what just happened. He could still feel Amy's hand on his leg as he made his way back to the piano. He leaned on his knees and started to rub his eyes. This had been such a long day. He looked down at his watch and sighed. The bell was going to ring soon so he got his things together. He had already come out of the auditorium. He slowly made his way to his next class when he saw them. It was Amy and she was talking to Lilly, and from the looks of it, it looked serious. Lilly looked concerned and when she saw Ephram she had a look of hatred. She turned away and ran off to the bathroom and Amy turned to see Ephram. She smiled maliciously and waved as she left.  
  
Ahh, don't you love a good cliffhanger? 


	17. A Lie

Disclaimer: Blah!  
  
Ephram got a terrible feeling of dread. He ran to the bathroom. "Lilly!" he shouted to the door.  
"Go away," she said in a scary voice. She sounded like she had been crying and was under huge stress.  
"I can't. Just let me talk to you," he said as his worry grew.  
"No, I don't want to talk. Why don't you just go back to your girlfriend?" she said slamming herself into a stall.  
"You are my girlfriend," he said starting to get confused. He looked down at his watch and saw they had ten seconds to get to class.  
"Not any more," she said then giving a huge sob that she tried to stifle.  
Ephram looked at the door and knew thee was only one way to talk to her. He took a deep breath as the bell rang and then let himself into the bathroom. When he stepped in Lilly gave a quick scream and then closed her mouth. She looked at him in disgust. She couldn't believe that he had done this after all they had been through. He had actually kissed Amy, and told her he loved her and said that they were getting back together.  
"Leave me alone," she said leaving the stall.  
"I don't understand," he said trying to hold her.  
She pulled herself away from him and started to wash off the make up that was running down her face. "What's not to understand? You want to be with Amy and I'm not going to stand in your way. I'm going back home, to give you and her space,"  
"Everwood is your home. Lilly, please don't go. I don't want to be with Amy," Ephram's voice was pleading; he had no idea what was going on.  
"Sure, you don't her now that I know. Just leave me alone Ephram, please?" she looked at him as she started to cry again.  
Ephram didn't move for a second and then he made his way out of the bathroom, but before he reached the door.  
"Wait," said Lilly. Ephram spun around hoping that she was joking or, was forgiving him for whatever it was he did. "Here's your mom's ring," she pulled the ring off of her finger and handed it to her.  
Ephram took the ring and stared at her. "Lilly, just tell me what is wrong," he pleaded. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I don't know what I would do without you,"  
Lilly just stared at him. How dare he ask what he had done? He knew full well what he had done. "Goodbye Ephram,"  
Ephram turned and left the bathroom. He leaned up against a locker and slid down to the floor. He was going to kill Amy. Lilly would never believe the truth. He looked at the ring and twiddled it in his fingers and then he started to tear up. He quickly tried to wipe away the tears but it was useless. They wouldn't stop falling. He could hear Lilly in the bathroom crying and it made it worse. He never would want to hurt Lilly. He hadn't though, Amy had. He started to leave when he heard the door open. He spun around to see Lilly. She didn't say anything; she just turned and left him standing there. This was the worst day of her life. She started to cry again but she pulled herself together. She slowly walked to Latin and took her seat.  
"Is there something wrong, Animosa?" asked Mr. Adams, her Latin teacher, when he saw her appear in the door.  
"I'm fine," she said chocking back tears.  
"See me after class," he said and he turned around to finish his lesson.  
  
"Listen, I know you. You are my star student and you are the happiest girl I know. You don't normally show up late for class crying. What is wrong, I won't tell anyone," said Mr. Adam's after class. They were sitting at his desk and she kept on crying.  
"You'll laugh at me. I know you too Magister, you'll think it's foolish," she said grabbing more tissues.  
"If I laugh you can be teacher for the day," he said touching her arm to make her feel comforted.  
Mr. Adam's was Lilly's favorite teacher in Everwood. She had joined his Latin club and was Empress. They had spent quite a bit of time together, and she knew that he wouldn't laugh. She just hated to repeat what Ephram had done.  
"You know the guy I've been dating?" she said after calming down a little.  
"Ephram right? Is this about him?" he said, he never did like that Brown boy. Now he had hurt Lilly, a student he considered his as his daughter.  
"Yes, His ex-girlfriend, Amy, told me today that he kissed her and they were going back out, but it's not just that. I changed my whole life for him. I moved, got engaged, I was about to adopt his baby. I just feel like all of the time I've spent with him has been a lie and all I've given up has been worthless," she said starting to cry again.  
Mr. Adam's shook his head and gave her a hug. "It'll be okay. I'll send a note to your next class, and say you are helping me. So you can stay for the rest of the day. Go sit in the corner and take a nap,"  
Lilly nodded and went to her thrown that she had for the club and pulled out the blanket in the corner. She felt exhausted and as soon as she sat down she fell asleep.  
  
Ephram skipped his last class and went to the auditorium. He had to think and he couldn't think knowing that at anytime he could be asked a question. He thought he might go find Lilly and try to talk to her again, but he knew that was useless. He took a seat on the stage and put his head in his hands. What was he going to do? He had lost the best thing in his life, and there was nothing he could do. He pulled out his cell phone to try and call his dad, but there was no signal. The only thing he could do was finding Amy and ask her what the hell was wrong with her. He got off the stage and went on search for Amy. He found her quickly, but she was in class. He had an idea and forged a note from Mrs. Fowler. He opened the door the classroom and stepped in.  
"Yes?" asked Mrs. Griffin, a young teacher of Drama.  
"Mrs. Fowler needs to see Amy Abbot, it's urgent," he said handing the note to Mrs. Griffin.  
"Quickly," she said to Amy.  
Amy shook her head and reluctantly followed Ephram out of the room. "What?" she asked when they were out in the hall.  
"What did you say to Lilly?" asked Ephram with furry in his eyes.  
Amy huffed a little, I have no idea what you are talking about,"  
Ephram grabbed her arms and pushed her against the wall. "Don't play dumb, what did you say?"  
Ephram was furious and was completely out of character. When he saw the look of pain on Amy's face he lessened his grip.  
"I told her that you and I were getting back together, and that you kissed me and laughed about her all during lunch," she said.  
"Why?" he said throwing his hands in the air letting her free from the wall. "Why would you do that? Are you really just that selfish?"  
"I did it so we could be together. She was what was in our way so I got rid of her. We can finally make this work," said Amy rubbing her arms.  
"You make me sick. Stay away from her and me. I could never even speak to you again after this," he said. With that he walked away. He was so furious he couldn't stay at school any longer. He walked out to the parking lot and started his car. He left the school and made his way home. When he pulled up to the house he ran to the door. He let himself in and then went to his room. On the way to his room he walked by Lilly's room. He stopped and looked at it. She had made it her own, by adding girly things and pictures of her old friends, new friends, New York, Georgia, Everwood, and then in the middle was a picture of their first kiss. He looked at how her bed was still a little messy from her sleeping on top of the covers the night before. He sat on the bed and put his head in his hands. He started to cry again and this time he couldn't stop. The room smelled like her and was she. Soon it wouldn't anymore. He had to get her back, but how? She wouldn't even listen to him. He started to search for a piece of paper and pen. When he found a dark blue pen with blue feathers on top and paper with Lilly's name on it he leaned against her nightstand and started to write.  
  
"Animosa?" said Mr. Adams gently nudging the snoring girl. "It's time to go home. I'll give you a ride. Lets go."  
Lilly woke up slowly and felt like she was moving under water. She had a horrible headache and extremely grouchy. Mr. Adams led her outside and helped her into his green pick up truck. Mr. Adams was quite young, 25. He was tall and skinny with short brown hair that he never changed the style of. On his wedding ring finger rested a simple gold band that he never took off. He had a certain outfit set for each day of the week, with a special green sweatshirt and jeans for casual Friday. He was the best teacher in Everwood and didn't mind telling people. He was very prejudice about his students, the more Latin you know the better he likes you. Since Lilly almost knew more Latin than he did, he considered her more of a friend than a student.  
They drove in silence except for Lilly's occasional sobs. When they reached the house Lilly politely thanked him and let herself out. She heard Mr. Adams's car drive off and she slowly made her way to the house. She didn't see Ephram's car so she felt more comfortable about going into the house. She opened the door and glanced around to see if anyone was around. She didn't see anyone so she walked in. She climbed the stairs and went to her room. Lying on the bed was a letter with her name on it. It read: Dear Lilly;  
I know that today was awful and you probably have already ripped this letter. I just needed to tell you the truth...  
Lilly didn't finish it. She didn't want to hear anymore about him. She was about to rip it but she just folded it and put it in her table. She lay down on her bed and just stared in at the ceiling for a while. She was so sick of crying, her stomach hurt from the full day of tears. She thought she heard a door open downstairs, but she wasn't sure. She got up investigate and saw Andy talking and laughing with Delia. She wanted to hate him for bringing his son into the world, but she couldn't. She loved him too dearly. She walked towards them and Delia was the first to notice her.  
"Lilly, what's wrong?" she asked when she saw that her face was tear stained.  
Andy looked over at her and was instantly worried. She looked like she had been in emotional pain all day. He raised his hand to Delia to make her be quiet. Lilly started to cry again and ran over to Andy. He wrapped his arms around her for comfort as she cried into his shoulder. Delia walked off to her room and Andy led Lilly to the couch.  
"Just tell me what's wrong and I'll see if I can help," Andy said pulling her face from his shoulder so he could look at her face.  
Lilly tried to calm herself and when she did she started to talk. "Amy, told me that She and Ephram were getting back together,"  
Andy started to nod and a giant wave of anger swept over him. He knew he was supposed to stand with his son, but this was really hard to do. He was putting this girl through so much pain after she gave up everything for him. Andy patted Lilly's head and asked her what she wanted to do.  
"I want to go home, to Georgia. I can't stay here anymore. Everything reminds me of Ephram. My mom was right. This would never last," she said through tears. She could barely see Andy and he was right in front of her.  
"If that's what you want, I'll buy your ticket," Andy said kissing Lilly's forehead.  
Lilly nodded and Andy told her to go pack, he would get her a flight as soon as possible. Lilly ran up the stairs and pulled out her suitcases. Andy went to pick up the phone and bought the ticket.  
  
Four hours later Ephram came home and ran directly to Lilly's room. She wasn't there and all of her clothes were gone. His heart skipped a beat as he raced downstairs. Delia and Andy were watching TV in silence.  
"Dad, where is Lilly?" Ephram asked.  
Andy stood up and walked over to his son. "She went back to Georgia,"  
Ephram's face dropped. She was gone. There was nothing more he could do. She was gone and out of his life forever. He slowly walked upstairs into Lilly's room. He could see the imprints on her bed from her suitcases. He touched her bed and noticed that his letter was gone. He looked in all of the trashcans in the house and couldn't find it. That meant she still had it. He felt a little hope but it was completely extinguished when he remembered all of the other trashcans at the airport. He had to have hope though. If not he might go insane. Just then he heard the phone ring and he ran to answer.  
"Hello?" he said quickly, praying that it was Lilly.  
The other line was quiet for a while. Then finally, "Did you mean what you said?"  
It was Lilly! His heart felt overjoyed. "Every word."  
She sighed. "Then open the door,"  
  
Mmm...cliff hanger! 


	18. She Returns

Disclaimer: Purple elephants. Blue dogs. Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah. Oh, yeah. I don't own these people, except Lilly, hm...orange pilgrims.  
  
Ephram was confused but opened the back door anyway. He looked around and saw no one.  
"The other door," she said.  
Ephram ran to the other door and there was Lilly with all her luggage around her and the note in her front pocket. Ephram stood in amazement for a while and then he lifted her off of her feet and spun her around. Ephram, without noticing, had started to cry, as well as Lilly. When he put her down he kissed her hard. He had feared he would never be able to do that again, and now he wanted to prove his lips wrong. When he pulled back they looked into each other's eyes. Ephram put his finger to his lips, so Andy and Delia wouldn't hear them, and carried her upstairs. He set her down on the bed and they started to talk.  
"What happened that made you change your mind?" he asked after closing the door and sitting with her.  
"I was in the bathroom and I was crying. You know how they play cheesy music in the bathroom?" she asked. Ephram nodded with a smile. "Well, they played our song. I started to cry more and then I decided to read your note. I was so angry with you I didn't want to believe it. So I made my way to my seat on the plane and when I found my seat, I couldn't sit down. Something inside me said I shouldn't sit down. I picked up your note and looked at it and I just felt like I couldn't be on the plane. Ephram, I am so sorry. I should have listened to you. You've never lied before and I should have trusted you. I am so sorry,"  
Ephram pulled her to his chest and held her while she cried. "It's okay. You're here now and that is all that matters. I love you,"  
Lilly pulled back and kissed him again. She slowly ran her fingers through his hair and he grabbed her waist. "I love you so much," she said into his ear.  
Ephram smiled and kept his kiss going. Soon they heard footsteps and quickly pulled apart.  
"Ephram, where are you?" asked Andy while reaching for his son's bedroom door handle. He received quite a shock to see Lilly sitting with Ephram. "You...you're here!"  
Lilly smiled and got up to hug Andy. She was so glad to be at her real home. The one she felt comfortable and loved. It wasn't her real family, but it was the next best thing. No, it was better than normal family, because normal family has a contract saying they must embarrass you. Andy finally let her go and called for Delia, who immediately ran into the arms of Lilly and gave her a huge hug. Lilly started to cry again from all of the excitement.  
"I thought you wouldn't come back," said Delia after she let Lilly go.  
"I thought so to. If it's okay with your dad, I'm going stay for good," Lilly said looking up at Andy.  
Andy smiled and nodded. Delia wrapped her arms around Lilly's legs and then kissed her goodnight. The full day of crying and school had taken its toll on her and now she was fatigued.  
"You two should go on to bed now," said Andy about to leave, then he turned his head back to the room. "Separate beds."  
Ephram kissed Lilly good night and she walked into her room. They both fell asleep instantly, each thinking about the other.  
  
Ephram woke at around four that morning. He sighed and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. He rolled out of bed and stumbled downstairs. It was still dark outside, but you catch a glimpse of the rising sun. Ephram went outside and brought in Lilly's abandoned luggage. He tried to bring it up the stairs as quietly as possible, so he wouldn't wake his sleeping family. When all of the luggage was in Lilly's room, Ephram tried to cook a nice breakfast. How hard could it be? He pulled out his mother's old cookbook and skimmed through it to find a breakfast. When Ephram finally found something they could do he book marked the page and kept looking through it. He could still faintly smell his mother and the old New York apartment with every turn of the page. When he reached the end of the book he opened the page back up to the breakfast he had found. He pulled out the ingredients he could find and decided the other things were just garnishes. He started to put everything together and when it was all mixed in, he ran to take a shower while it sat in the oven. The second he was out of the shower he smelled something awful, like a piece of crap being burned. He quickly ran down the stairs still wrapped in a towel. When he came to the kitchen, everyone was standing around the oven looking at it. Ephram tried to hide from them, but the noticed him too quickly.  
"What the hell were trying to do, Ephram?" said Andy when he noticed his son.  
"Um...you see, I was trying to make breakfast, but that doesn't smell like what Mom made. What do you think I did wrong?" he said suddenly remembering that there was very little standing between his family and...well, himself.  
"Let me see," said Lilly looking through the cookbook. "We didn't have most of the ingredients for this,"  
"Those weren't necessary, were they?" he said getting nervous.  
"Unless you were thing of giving us some flour and water. Yeah we could have eaten it, but we might not keep it down long," Andy said starting to laugh.  
"Can I go get dressed?" he said starting to get red in the cheeks.  
"Oh," said Lilly just noticing he was practically naked. "Yeah, go ahead,"  
Ephram ran up the stairs and dressed, laughing to himself about what had happened downstairs. Finally he came back down, everyone was eating cereal, and his nice gesture was in the trash. Ephram went to get breakfast himself and sat next to Lilly. Under the table he held her hand and she smiled while she tried to solve the puzzles on the cereal box. After breakfast, everyone finished getting ready and Ephram watched the news, since everything else that was on sucked to the highest degree. When it was time to leave for school, Ephram and Lilly took off in Ephram's car. When they stopped in Ephram's spot in the parking lot, neither of them wanted to move.  
"Do we really have to go back there?" Lilly said looking over to Ephram.  
"We don't have to, but hiding isn't going to make it any easier," Ephram said, squeezing Lilly's hand for support.  
Lilly sighed and they got out of the car together. Ephram walked Lilly to her class and then he went to his own. As soon as Lilly stepped into the room, she felt all eyes on her. She didn't think that news could travel that fast, they really didn't tell anyone. Lilly saw Amy in the back corner with her arms crossed. Lilly walked over to Danielle.  
"I thought you were going to leave," Paula said.  
"I was, but something came up," Lilly said wanting to leave it at that.  
"What?" all of them asked.  
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Lilly said crossing her arms. She hated the gossip of a small town. It was the one thing she hated about Everwood.  
The girls rolled there eyes and lost interest in Lilly, which she was thankful for. When class began they went through their stretching and started to dance. Lilly couldn't wait for the end of the day.  
  
Ephram walked into the auditorium and tried to practice the song again. He hadn't been able to do to the recent events. He started to play and when he finished he couldn't help but smile. Lilly's birthday was less then a week away and he was about to give her gift early. Andy had asked the other day what he had gotten her but Ephram wouldn't tell. He didn't want to tell anyone, because he didn't want her to find out. Ephram practiced until his fingers hurt and then he practiced one more time. When the song was finished Lilly was standing by the door.  
"That was beautiful, who wrote it?" she said running down to see Ephram.  
"Um...not too sure. How much did you hear?" he asked as his spirits took a head on collision with the ground.  
"Just the last few notes. It was still beautiful though. Can you play the rest for me?" she said smiling. She had enjoyed the little she had heard so much, and Ephram seemed to enjoy playing it.  
"The bell is about to ring, so you won't be able to hear it all, and I have to turn the music into the band guy after lunch so...yeah," Ephram said trying to play it off cool, which he wasn't good at doing.  
"Okay, I was just asking. So, are you sure everything is okay between you and me? Because it is better to get it out now then wait until it's too late," Lilly said starting to get nervous. She had been surprised that Ephram hadn't yelled at her when she came back. He hadn't done anything and she was condoning him for life.  
"Oh, yeah there was this one thing that was bugging me. Will you wear my ring again?" Ephram said pulling it out from his pocket.  
Lilly smiled and took it, "Of course I will, but are you sure there isn't anything? I just want to get things out and we can't wait until we're in a fight and you want to bring it up,"  
Ephram thought for a while and then started to speak. "Yeah, I was thinking about this almost all day. How could you trust her and not me? You barely know her and you drank in every word she had to say, but you've known me longer and you wouldn't listen to a word I had to say,"  
Lilly bit her lip and thought about it. "I have had bad relationships in the past. All with guys who say they love me, but really are just trying to get into my pants. When I wouldn't have sex with them, they left me by making up these awful excuses like I was a bitch to their friends and was fooling around with other guys. I tried to go back and make it work, but they pushed me away. I just gave up trying to make it work and I started to try and get over it as quickly as possible. I'm sorry Ephram, I really am. I just didn't think about how completely different you are from other guys."  
Ephram didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or criticism. He took it as a compliment and held her closely. After a while he got a mischievous grin and he started to tickle her. Lilly completely crumbled and was bursting out in laughter. Ephram laughed, but didn't expect her to fight back. She reached up and started to tickle him, but he wasn't as ticklish as she was. Finally, the bell rang and neither of them wanted to leave. Ephram helped Lilly up and kissed her goodbye and they went to class.  
  
At the end of the day, Ephram went home and Lilly went to practice. There first game was only a week away. Ephram climbed up the stairs to his room and lay back on the bed. He was so sick of the gossip and whispering of Everwood. He wanted New York, where no one would care if you were robbed in the middle of a busy street. Ephram picked up a magazine and flipped through. After a while he got bored and threw it to the side. He went downstairs and saw Madison standing outside his door.  
"Hey," he said when he opened the door. She had looked as if she was hesitant to knock on the door.  
"Hey, can we talk?" she said starting to look nervous.  
Ephram let her in and got nervous. They sat down at the table.  
Madison looked like she was extremely interested in the table for a while and then she finally looked up. "Ephram, it's about the baby,"  
Ephram tensed his shoulders. "Is there something wrong?"  
Madison nodded a little. "Well, first, the doctor said it was a girl,"  
"That's great, now, what's wrong?" said Ephram. He was a little disappointed that it wasn't a boy; he has enough trouble with girls already. "I went to Denver and got one of those four dimensional ultra sounds, the ones where you can see the baby a lot better. They noticed something about the baby that might cause trouble. She has a cleft lip and palate,"  
Ephram was confused, "I don't know what that is,"  
"It's when the lip and the top of the mouth isn't fully formed. They'll have to do surgery and it'll be feed through a tube going through his nose. It'll be very tough," she said running through what the doctor had said, "She will need to be feed all the time, every three hours, all day including nights. When she is three months, she will have the lip surgery, if she weighs enough. And when she is six months, she will need the palate surgery. That is going to be the hard one. She won't want to eat because her palate will hurt and she won't be able to use the tube through her nose either. There might be late night trips to the emergency room, and the first year is just going to suck,"  
Ephram tried to take in all of the news. "Are you still going to leave?"  
Madison looked at her hands, "I was going to ask you if that would be alright. I know it's thoughtless, but I already had an apartment ready and a job set up. I will try and help as much as I can, but I don't think there is anyway for me to get out of it,"  
Ephram nodded. He understood, but he just hopped that she would have stayed. It would have made everything easier.  
"Ephram, I'm sorry. I just can't stay here. It would be too much," said Madison said seeing his face.  
"No, it's okay. Just visit, okay? Please, not for me but for the baby. She would want to know her real mother. I would want her to know her real mother," said Ephram looking up from the table.  
"Of course I will. I think it would be hard not to. I need to go, I have to clean, my roommate is having company," with that Madison got up and left.  
Ephram sat where he was for a while. His baby wasn't completely healthy, she had a problem and would have to go through surgery. His fatherliness started to show through as he worried about his baby. He would rather go through surgery than have his innocent baby have to suffer. He took a deep breath and called his dad, who was having to work late that day.  
"Hello?" said Edna.  
"Hey, can I speak to my dad?" he said starting to tear up.  
"Can he call you back? He is with a patient," she said pushing through files, guiltily laughing at a person who she hated with the flu.  
"Yeah, could you tell him it's important?" he said wiping his tears.  
"Are you okay kiddo?" she said noticing the worry in his voice.  
"Yeah, I just got some bad news. Tell him to call as soon as possible," he said, not wanting to get into a conversation about this.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" she said. She was worried about him.  
"No, I just need to go. Goodbye Edna," with that Ephram hung up the phone and looked at the clock. He needed to go take Lilly to work in a while. He didn't want to leave knowing that his dad would call back, but he had to pick her up. So he ran to his car and drove as fast as he could to the school. When he got there she was just coming out of the school. She hopped in and saw that he was upset about something.  
"What's wrong?" she said.  
"I have bad news, but I can't tell you right now, I'm in a hurry. I will tell you when you get off though," he said speeding out of the parking lot. He wanted to tell Lilly, but he wanted to be able to collect his thoughts and explain things completely, and he couldn't do that in a hurry.  
He dropped Lilly off and sped home. He was probably going to wreck, but he just really needed to be home. He pulled up to the house and opened the door. Immediately, as if waiting for him, the phone rang.  
"Hello?" he said hoping it was Andy.  
"Hey Ephram, what's wrong. Edna said it was important," Andy was very stressed. It had been a long day and his new partner Harold had a tendency to give him headaches.  
"Dad, Madison stopped by and she had some news," said Ephram. He told Andy what Madison had told him and when he was done he waited for a response.  
"Well, there is nothing we can do now, but when the baby comes it's going to be a hand full. Did she find out the sex of the baby?" said making note to get as much sleep as possible now, because in three months he wasn't going to remember what sleep was.  
"It's a girl. Isn't there anything we can do from keeping her from using a tube or something. Why can't she use a bottle?"  
"She has no roof of her mouth, it would be difficult and painful. She is going to be much more prone to ear infections because of the cleft palate, so we are going to learn to love medicine and lack of sleep. Don't worry Ephram, she will be okay. You are lucky, your dad is a doctor and you won't have midnight trips to the doctor as much. I'll teach you how to take out the tube and put it back in. It will be okay, it will just be very stressful," said Andy flipping through his book about infant defects.  
"Thanks, I just really needed to see if there was anything we could do to prevent her from having to go through surgery so young. Can't they do laser things to make it heal while she is in the womb?" he said trying to think of something.  
"There is nothing we can do now. Just get ready and be prepared," he said closing the book and sighing.  
"Thanks Dad," he said and hung up.  
Andy sat at his desk and rubbed his eyes. It was always something in his family. It never seemed to settle down and be normal. He could hear Edna and Harold arguing out in the hall and decided to let them yell. He was sick of breaking up their fights. He slowly started to pack up, since he had no other patients that day. He tried to sneak out of the office, but he was unsuccessful.  
"Andy, tell my mother that she is not able to look through the patient's files. Where are you going? You still have one hour," said Harold noticing Andy.  
"Harold please, I'm tired. We don't have any more patients. You are Superdoctor, you saved them all," he begged.  
"Fine, just tell her to not read the confidential files," he said pointing at his mother.  
"I have a right to know why I am ordering certain things, I don't tell anybody," Edna said indignantly.  
"Edna, heads or tails?" said Andy pulling a coin out of his pocket.  
"What?" they both said.  
"If Edna gets heads, then she can read the files, if Harold gets tails, then she isn't aloud to anymore," said Andy flipping the coin.  
"This is absurd! We should settle this properly, not by a flip of a coin," said Harold rolling his eyes.  
"Shush, junior," Edna said leaning to see the coin.  
It was heads; Edna smiled brightly at her son and then walked over to her desk. Harold rolled his eyes and stomped off to his office. Andy ran off to his car and started it up. He drove home as soon as he could, he was exhausted and he wanted a nap before his date with Nina that night. He opened the door to his house and saw Ephram sitting on the couch looking extremely depressed.  
"Dad, it is just really sinking in. I can't believe I'm going to be a dad. When I found out about the baby being sick and in pain, I just couldn't take it. How can you feel so strongly for something you've never seen before? I would rather be blind or never be able to play piano again, then have my daughter in pain for a single second," Ephram said when he saw his dad.  
"Welcome to the club. That is how I feel about you and Delia, even Lilly sometimes. I have had that feeling for seventeen years," Andy said wrapping his arm around Ephram's shoulder.  
Ephram sighed; the next three months were going to go by extremely quickly.  
  
Ephram pulled up to Lilly's work and she climbed in. She looked worried, and he decided he better tell her what was going on then. He told her everything Madison had said and what he had been told by Andy.  
"The baby will be okay though, won't she?" she said after he had finished.  
"Of course, she'll just need a scar removal surgery before kindergarten and then she'll be fine. Everything is going to be okay. I just needed to tell Dad about it first, to see if there really was anything to worry about. We will lose lots of sleep, but everything is going to be okay with the baby. She'll be healthy," he said.  
Lilly sighed, this was going to be an interesting year. What was she kidding? This already was an interesting year.  
  
What do you think? It took me forever to do this chapter. I won't be posting for a while though, I have to go somewhere. I gave you a nice long chapter to tide you over. 


	19. A Birthday

Disclaimer: Everwood characters I do not own. Love them very dearly I just. For Lilly except, off back!  
  
They drove home in silence, but each of them was thinking the same thing: Will we be able to handle this baby? It was going to be hard and almost impossible. At sometimes they were going to want to give the baby away and others, it was going to be impossible to think of a life without her.  
"So I guy her name will be Claire," Lilly said after a while.  
"Huh?" Ephram said.  
"Madison said that if it was a girl she wanted to name her Claire. Since it's a girl, it will be Claire. I do love that name. I had a friend back in Georgia with that name. She was always there for me. I should call her," said Lilly recalling the past visit with Madison.  
"I forgot about that. How long did you know Claire?" said Ephram smiling at Lilly.  
"Since kindergarten. She knew everyone in the class and I didn't know anyone. She walked up to me, introduced herself, and pulled me over to all of her friends. I remember that there was this guy and he was such a nerd! His name was Devin and he was like in love with me. I had to sit next to him all the time because are last names were close together. I wasn't into boys yet, so I thought he was so gross. He got down on one knee in front of me one time and kissed my hand. He was so annoying!" she said smiling at the old memory.  
Ephram smiled at her while she told her story. She was so animated while telling it. She used her hands and her facial expressions to keep the story going and interesting.  
"One time Claire was over at my house and we got this stupid idea to play three legged race in the road. We were going extremely slowly and then this van came down the rode, going like two miles an hour. We were so scared. I took off in the direction of our house and all of a sudden it got really hard to walk. I turned around and I was pulling Claire on the ground. I kept going I was afraid we were going to be run over. So I dragged her to the other side of the road," said Lilly laughing at herself.  
Ephram laughed at the story placed his hand on her knee. They rode in a comfortable silence. When they pulled up to the house Lilly started to feel tired. She had felt so tired recently. She pulled all of her things out of the car and they walked in together. She dumped all of her things on the table and crashed on the couch. Ephram followed her and they sat there for a while.  
"We are so boring," said Ephram.  
"We are not. We have more drama thrown at us in one week then most people do in one year. Why do we have to go partying to be interesting," said Lilly starting to close her eyes.  
Ephram couldn't believe that earlier today he had gotten such terrible news. He felt so good now and he owed it all to Lilly. Andy walked in and sat with them as did Delia when she got back from Nina's. They all sat on the couch together for the first time since Lilly had gotten there. Soon Andy had to leave though, he reached for his jacket and went to Nina's. Nina was standing in the kitchen of her house and Andy let himself in.  
"I got a babysitter for Sam, so Ephram and Lilly don't have to watch him. I know he can be a handful, so I thought I would leave them together. So, it's been a hectic week huh?" she said when she saw him.  
"Absolutely crazy, and it's only Wednesday. I swear if I get any more drama, I will go crazy," he said pulling her close. He gave her a kiss and she smiled. He loved it when she smiled, especially when she smiled while he kissed her.  
"Has there been any new developments in the saga of the Brown's?" she asked when he pulled away from her.  
"Yes, Ephram and Madison's baby, has got a cleft lip and palate," he said.  
"Oh, my aunt's friend had a baby that had one. It's going to be hell," she said feeling utmost sympathy for him.  
"Every disease there is available, you know someone who had it don't you?" he said laughing.  
Nina hit his shoulder and grabbed her purse. She shouted her goodbye to Sam and they left. Andy helped her in the car and they went for a drive.  
  
The rest of the week went smoothly, and when the weekend came everyone was ready for the break. Ephram was getting excited, because Lilly's birthday was drawing nearer. Delia had figured out what his gift was, but she had promised not to tell. Andy and Nina's relationship grew steadily and Nina was invited to Lilly's eighteenth birthday party. It came to a shock to everyone that Lilly was older than Ephram, since he towered over her. When Sunday came Lilly woke up feeling happy. She was finally eighteen. She got up and skipped down the hall. She heard a knock on the door and saw that a UPS man was waiting at the door. She walked over and saw that he had a package for her. She signed for it and put it on the table, waiting to open it with everyone. She looked on the box to see who it was from, but she didn't recognize the address. After a while everyone woke up and Delia jumped up and down. She felt as if she was five, but she didn't care. She got to share her new feeling of adulthood with the people she loved.  
"So, do you want to do presents now or wait until the party?" said Andy pulling out a breakfast that Nina had sent over the previous night.  
"I want to wait. I want a lot of presents at one time and I want to show off to everyone how great it is to be eighteen," said Lilly giving Delia a hug and kiss good morning.  
"Okay, I don't think I have ever had a child that wanted to wait before," said Andy heating up the food.  
They had a leisurely morning and then in the afternoon, everyone started to show up. Lilly had invited all of her friends, people she worked with, and Madison. Nina and Sam showed up last and they got ready to cut the cake. Everyone had fun and Lilly couldn't wait to open presents. She opened everyone's presents except for Ephram's. When everything was opened Ephram took Lilly by the hand and walked her over to the piano. He pulled out the piece of paper that he had been writing on and scribbling on forever. He played the song for and she smiled at him.  
"Thank you sweetie, what's it called?" she said not really understanding why he had played it.  
"I haven't named it yet, what do you want to name it?" he said trying to give her the hint.  
"You wrote that? That was wonderful! I am so proud of you," she said wrapping her arms around his neck, still not getting that the song was for her.  
"I wrote the song for you. I want you to name it," he said trying to get the point across.  
"Oh, really? Oh my goodness, that is so...I can't believe you wrote me a song," she said starting to cry. "I think I want to name it Jewels from Heaven,"  
"Why that name?" he said.  
"Because, that's what you are. A jewel from Heaven," with that she leaned into kiss him. Everyone around them started to awe at their affection.  
"That is the lamest pick up line ever," he joked when she pulled away.  
Everyone laughed and they went on with the party.  
  
After everyone had left they cleaned up the big mess. Andy heard the phone ring and he ran to get it. Lilly put away all of her presents in her room. Then she remembered the package from earlier that day. She had set it on her bed and was going to open it later. She went on and opened the box and saw that it was from her mom. She bit her lip so that she wouldn't cry. She pushed through things that her mother knew that she would love. At the bottom of the box was a letter. She opened it and started to read. Dear Lilly,  
I want you to know that I really miss you. Claire says hello and so does your father. I can't believe that you are eighteen and I am not there. I feel like you have abandoned me. You never call and I don't know anything about what is going on in your life. You could be dead or pregnant, and I wouldn't know. There is this awful void in my life because you're gone, and I wish you would come back to me. I love you, and Happy Birthday. Love, Your Mom.  
Lilly looked at the note written in her mother's neat handwriting. Her tears started to fall quickly and she could not stop them. She missed her mother so much, but she loved Everwood. She had to stick by her decision. She would have called her mother then, but Andy was on the phone downstairs. She picked through the things in the box, some perfume, a necklace, a box set of all of the movies Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were in together. She finally put the things away and went downstairs. She tried to wipe her tears on her jacket, but it was no use she kept crying. She was going to go back to her room, but Ephram noticed her.  
"What's wrong?" he said looking up from the mail he was going through.  
"Nothing, I'm fine. Who is your dad talking to?" she said trying to change the subject.  
"Don't try to cover it up, why are you crying?" he said, he had walked over to her and now had his hands cupping her face.  
"I don't want to talk about it, so just drop it," she said forcefully pushing Ephram's hands from her face. She walked over to the couch and held her knees. She felt bad about being mean to Ephram, but he didn't know when to just leave her alone. She didn't want to talk about it, why couldn't he understand that?  
Ephram dropped the subject and finished sorting through the mail. Finally Andy hung up the phone and sighed.  
"Guess who's coming to visit?" said Andy.  
  
Guess I lied when I said I wouldn't post for a while, now I really won't post for a while. 


	20. A Visitor

Disclaimer: Everwood Characters=Not mine. Lilly=MINE!!!!  
  
"This can't be good news, can it?" said Ephram after his father told him the news, "I mean, I love Nana, but Lilly isn't Jewish. She'll hate her,"  
Andy sat back and tried to plan what he was going to do when Ephram's grandmother arrived. She had heard about Lilly from Delia and had to come visit. Andy felt sorry for Lilly; she was going to have a worse time than he ever did. Ephram was her first grandson, and if he had a girlfriend that wasn't Jewish and had no ambition to convert, she was going to be furious.  
"It will be okay. I can just cram the Jewish culture stuff and try to make it look like I am interested in it. That will be okay, won't it?" Lilly had started to freak out; Ephram didn't make her feel any better when he started to get just as worried. Weren't boyfriends supposed to be protective and tell you everything was okay?  
"She will still hate you. If you are not Jewish and we get married and have kids, our kids won't be Jewish. She must have Jewish great- grandchildren," he said starting to chew his nails.  
Andy finally spoke after a long silence, "Well, if we never bring the topic of religion up, then maybe she won't ask,"  
Everyone looked around at each other and hoped it would work. Ephram placed his hand on Lilly's and sighed. She felt comforted by the gesture and smiled to herself.  
"It'll never work," Ephram said after thinking about it. "She will ask, that is what her life spins around, it's the only reason I convinced her to let me see Billy Madison, because Adam Sandler is Jewish,"  
Lilly sighed and moved her hand from underneath Ephram's. "What do I need to do? There must be something,"  
"Would you consider converting?" Ephram said hopefully.  
"No! I don't believe what you do, I can't change just to please others," she said getting defensive.  
"I know, it was just an idea, but it would make things easier," Ephram said trying to think of another solution.  
"Well, I guess this is one war I can't win, so just let her hate me," Lilly said throwing her hands in the air.  
Ephram hated to think someone wouldn't love Lilly, but he knew it was the only thing that could happen. Lilly pushed her seat in and ran upstairs. She felt hurt that Ephram didn't have faith in her and that someone would hate her because of religion. Ephram went to find her and sat next to her on her bed.  
"What's this?" he said picking up her present from her mother.  
Lilly looked at it and started to get teary eyed again. "Nothing, it's just some present. Let me put it up,"  
Ephram looked at her as she took the present from the bed and pushed it to the side. "Are you okay?"  
Lilly sighed and found it pointless to keep secrets from Ephram, the one on her side. She felt bad about pushing him away and not telling him everything. But why did she have to tell him everything? She was aloud to have privacy. "It's nothing, I'm just ready for a break. I feel like I'm carrying all this weight on my shoulders and there is nowhere to put it. I'm looking forward to break,"  
Ephram nodded and sighed. He could tell he was keeping something from him. "Just tell me, I'm not going to hurt you or be mad. Just tell me,"  
"My mom sent me the present. She gave me this guilt trip thing and I'm so tired of going through that with her. I don't know why I wouldn't tell you, I guess I'm not use to people caring about how I feel things. I'm sorry," she said after looking at her mother's letter.  
Ephram walked over to Lilly and wrapped his arms around her waist for comfort. "Don't be afraid anymore. I won't judge you or anything. You can tell me what you want to tell me,"  
Lilly smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. He squeezed her closer and tightened his grip on her. She started to laugh and he spun her so she was facing him, he then placed a gentle kiss on her lips. When he pulled back Lilly's eyes were still closed and she was smiling. She slowly opened them again and saw him staring at her.  
"Is there something wrong?" she said as he kept staring. "Do I have something in my teeth?"  
Ephram laughed, but kept his gaze at her eyes, "Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking how it was going to impossible for Nana to hate you, you're too wonderful,"  
Lilly almost cried. No one had ever said that about her before. He slowly slipped his hand in her's and they went downstairs to see if there was anything they could do.  
Lilly went to clean the dishes and Ephram helped her. Andy told them that Sam was going to come over and he and Nina were going out.  
When it was time, Sam came over and ran directly to Delia's room with Delia. When Andy and Nina had left, Ephram and Lilly crashed on the couch. Lilly pulled out some last minute weekend homework and worked on it while Ephram flipped the channels. Lilly listened to her Kimberly Locke CD so she couldn't hear Ephram's loud TV. When she was finished she pulled put a book and started to read. Ephram read over her shoulder, since was supposed to be reading the same thing. When Andy cam in he looked like a teenager. He didn't notice Ephram and Lilly on the couch, but instead was dancing with himself. Lilly looked over at Ephram, but he just shrugged. Lilly started to laugh and Andy stopped dancing. He looked at Lilly and Ephram, and started to feel embarrassed.  
"I didn't notice you," he said as if that would explain his dancing.  
"We guessed that. Goodnight Dad," Ephram said as he and Lilly left him in the living room.  
Andy felt his cheeks turn red and laughed at himself. He went to find Sam who was sitting in Delia's room coloring. When he saw Andy he quickly ran out of the room to his house, shouting goodbye over his shoulder. Andy went to his room and dressed for bed. He recalled how Nina had looked and the smell of her hair, how she felt in his arms when they danced and how she laughed. He smiled while he closed his eyes and slowly drifted into sleep.  
  
Madison woke suddenly breathing hard. She had an awful dream that she was carrying her baby and was trying to get away from this storm. Madison was afraid to go under any shelter in fear that it would collapse and kill her baby. She clutched her stomach and rubbed her eyes. She had been having really weird dreams lately, but she read that it was normal. She glanced at the clock and saw it was four in the morning. She rolled her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but wasn't able to. She went into her small kitchen and made herself some ice cream that she had been craving since the night before. She looked down at herself in disgust. She had gained quite a bit of weight and it showed. Her once perfectly slim body was now a fat blob. She was sick of being pregnant and wished the baby would just go ahead and come. She still had three months left, but it was hard carrying around all of this weight and being limited from just about everything. When she finished her bowl of ice cream she had to refrain herself from licking the bowl clean. After she placed the bowl in the sink her roommate came in and sighed.  
"Why are you always up so early? I would really like to sleep for a while," she said going to get cereal.  
"I can't help it. You try having all of this weight on you while you sleep. Plus I have these freaky dreams and it is hard to stay asleep," she said for what seemed the millionth time. Her roommate didn't get it. She had never been pregnant and probably never would. She despised children and couldn't stand to be near a child. She had only been a hassle the whole pregnancy, not helping her at all and was constantly getting on her nerves, which was easily done now.  
"Sure, well the next time you can't help it, be more quiet," she said rolling her eyes.  
Madison left the kitchen before she slugged her and went to get dressed. When she had finished getting ready, she grabbed some of her books for class and got into her car. She didn't have class until later, but she was starting to get a little claustrophobic standing in the house. She had been having all of these new feelings while being pregnant. She was overly sensitive; she had awful mood swings, food cravings, weird dreams, and heightened sense of smell. She thought it would be nice to go nine months without a period, but she would rather have that then what she had to go through. _It's your own fault,_ she thought to herself, _you could have said no. You were the adult; you didn't have to let this happen to you. Now suck it up and keep going. _Madison pushed the tears that were forming in her eyes away. When she parked her car she sat there for a while and sighed. Eventually she got out of the car and faced the endless void that had become her life.  
  
Ephram woke to find Lilly lying next to him. After Andy had come in they had gone to her room and talked for hours. When she fell asleep he snuggled next to her and followed in suite. He gently nudged Lilly awake and she groaned, pushing his arm away.  
"Five more minutes. That is all I need then I will be ready," she said mumbling.  
Ephram smiled and slid away from her. He went into his room and started to get ready and five minutes later he went to wake Lilly. He gently nudged her side and she groaned and pulled the covers over her head turning away from Ephram. Ephram put a leg on each side of Lilly and started to jump and down shaking the bed.  
"I'm up!" she said pushing him off of her. "I don't like you any more,"  
Ephram helped her up, pulled her close to him, and kissed her on the cheek, "Yes you do, you just don't like me very much right now,"  
Lilly rolled her eyes and started getting ready. Ephram went to wake the rest of the family and finish getting himself ready. When he was finished Lilly was still in the bathroom and he went to eat some breakfast. When he finished it was time to go and Lilly was ready. Ephram and Lilly got into the car and took off for school.  
"Do you really think your Nana is going to hate me?" said Lilly when they started to drive.  
Ephram was quiet for a while, trying to pick his words carefully. "She won't really hate you, she just won't like that you and I are together,"  
Lilly sighed. "When is she coming anyway?"  
"During thanksgiving, she wants to cook us a good meal," he said starting to think of how this holiday season was going to suck.  
"So, we're not going to have any ham for Thanksgiving, huh?" she said trying to lighten the mood.  
"Absolutely not, Nana would freak. You really would eat ham on Thanksgiving, why not turkey?" said Ephram cringing at the thought.  
"I don't know. We would eat turkey, but sometimes we would eat ham," said Lilly thinking of past holidays.  
Ephram switched the radio station from the teenybopper music she had playing to some rap. Lilly rolled her eyes at the music and stared out the window.  
"I don't get this music," she said after a while.  
"What is there to get?" said Ephram.  
"I would like to be able to know what they are saying every once in a while. I can't understand them and I just don't see why anyone would want to hear a song where people got drunk and had sex with random people," she said looking back at Ephram.  
"Who would want to hear a song about people being in love with everyone and crying when the person leaves," said Ephram trying to pick at Lilly.  
"But those are their feelings of things around them. Plus, you get a fell of their personality through the song, not just how horny they are," said Lilly starting to get heated about the topic.  
Ephram rolled his eyes, "Are we getting into a fight about how rap music and pop music are? Because if we are we really need to get a life,"  
Lilly laughed and dropped the subject. When they got to school they went their separate ways.  
  
The month of October flew by quickly. Everyone started to get nervous about Nana's visit, especially Lilly. She started to read about the Jewish culture and tried to absorb all information as possible. She felt it was a hopeless cause she couldn't remember anything. Soon the day came when Nana was to arrive. Andy and Delia went to pick her up and Ephram and Lilly fixed up the house.  
"Your grandfather isn't coming too, is he?" Lilly said while fixing the living room.  
"Of course he is. Don't worry about him though, he'll love you," Ephram said trying to calm Lilly. She was trying so hard; he knew she must feel like a basket case.  
Lilly sighed and she walked over to him and placed her head on his shoulder. Ephram kissed the top of her head and hugged her. After a while Andy's car pulled up to the house and Lilly held her breathe.  
  
There, I finally updated. Sorry it took a while, but here it is. I want everyone to know that I do like rap and pop, I was not discriminating. Thanks for reading! 


	21. A Much Needed Vacation

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright of Everwood, but when I do you will be the first to be informed...unless you don't care.  
  
The old woman climbed from the front seat of the car and looked around. Everwood looked exactly how it did the last time she had visited. She hated to admit that she loved the fact that her grandchildren would be raised here; it was small and safer than New York. She tried to see if she could spot Ephram's girlfriend in the house, but because of the bushes she couldn't. Andy grabbed her luggage and escorted her to the house, Pappy followed close behind her. Delia bombarded her Nana with questions of the present that she had for her, but she just smiled and told her to wait until they were in the house with Ephram.  
"We're home!" shouted Andy when he opened the door.  
Ephram gave Lilly a kiss on the cheek and they went together to welcome his grandparents. Ephram went and kissed his grandmother and hugged his grandfather while Lilly waited to be introduced.  
"Nana, Pappy, this is Lilly. Lilly these are my grandparents," Ephram said walking back over to Lilly.  
"Nice to meet you," she said shaking both of their hands.  
Pappy, who instantly trusted anyone, pulled her in for a hug when he got her hand. She laughed and hugged him back as if she had known him forever. Nana, however, nodded her head and looked Lilly over.  
"So, how old are you?" she said after she had looked her over and spotted nothing to worry about except for a peculiarly familiar ring on a curious finger on her body.  
"Eighteen," she said as if she were on a job interview. She had grabbed hold of Ephram's hand and was squeezing tightly for support.  
"Hmm, and where did you say you were from?" she said.  
"Georgia, I moved here after the Julliard program," Lilly tightened her grip on Ephram and Ephram had to bite his lip to keep from shouting in pain.  
Nana nodded and kept asking her questions. Lilly thought the questions would never end and pretty soon Nana would ask for urine samples or something. She felt as if each time she answered a question she was being judged and every answer she gave, was worse than the one before. Finally she asked the question that they feared she would ask.  
"So, what are your religious beliefs?" she said.  
"I am a Christian, ma'am," Lilly said standing a little taller and loosening the grip on Ephram.  
Nana sighed and bit her lip, "Almost perfect, but we can deal with that. Would you ever consider conversion?"  
"I'm sorry, but no," she said thinking she might have hope in winning Nana's favor.  
"Oh, well I guess it's a good thing you've chosen a girl with something to believe in Ephram. I was starting to think you only had interest in girls with no backbone," Nana said with a smile opening her arms to Lilly.  
Lilly smiled and embraced the woman. When Nana finally let go Lilly went to stand next to Ephram.  
"Ephram and Andy had me scared stiff. I thought you were going to hate me," she said.  
"Dear I would never hate you, I just don't think you and I will see eye to eye on most things. But who really wants to be around a person they agree with on everything? It's not as fun that way," she said smiling.  
"Great, you don't hate each other, now can we open presents?" said Delia. She had her eye on Nana's suitcase the entire conversation and it had taken all of her will not to tear it open.  
Nana laughed and opened her suitcase. On the top was a box that was giving off a heavenly smell. When she opened it there were cookies that looked like they could feed a person for days.  
"Nana, are those The Village Bakery Cookies?" said Delia gaping at them.  
"But of course. What do you think I am? I wouldn't leave New York without them for my favorite grandchildren," she said with a smile.  
Everyone attacked the cookies and when there wasn't thing left of them they all went to the living room.  
"So, Lilly, why were at Julliard this summer?" asked Pappy.  
"I want to be a dancer," she said smiling at them.  
"Can you make a living from that?" he asked.  
"Yes, you make a killing being a background dancer or a dancer on Broadway. I want to do Broadway but I won't turn anything down," she said.  
Pappy nodded. They talked for a while about different things and then Ephram quietly sneaked Lilly from the room.  
"I'm sorry I just wanted you to myself for a while," he said when they had gotten to his room. "Is that selfish?"  
"Yes, but I won't tell anyone. Can you believe your Nana? She doesn't hate me! I was trembling, but she is so nice. And those cookies were delicious!" she said absent-mindedly wrapping her arms around his neck.  
"I can't believe it. I thought she would leave when she heard you were Christian. I should have known better, you are irresistible. It is impossible to hate you," he said wrapping his arms around her waist.  
Lilly smiled and leaned in to kiss him, but when there lips met they heard their names being called downstairs. Ephram pulled back and gave Lilly a sympathetic look as they held hands and went downstairs. Nana smiled at them when she saw them. Slowly her eyes drifted back down to the finger to the familiar ring. Where did she know that ring? Then it hit her; it was Julia's ring.  
"Ephram, can I talk to you?" she said.  
Ephram nodded and followed Nana onto the porch. He started to get nervous when he saw her pacing back and forth as he did when something important was on his mind but he didn't know how to talk about it.  
"Is there something wrong?" he said closing the door behind him.  
"Is Lilly pregnant?" she asked after a while.  
"No, why would you think that?" he said.  
"First, she moved here from Georgia, next she's wearing your mother's engagement ring. What is going on Ephram?" she said looking him in the eyes. She had raised a teenager before and knew when they were lying.  
"Lilly came after Julliard to visit for a month, then her mother came and she said things that were really rude and she decided to live here. We fell extremely in love and I couldn't imagine a life without her. I told her that and I proposed to her. We are going to wait until high school is over, so don't freak. But, I do have other news," he said. He felt he needed to tell Nana. She was the closest thing he had to his mother and it felt like he was telling her. "Madison, the girlfriend I had before Lilly, and Amy, is pregnant, and I'm the father,"  
Nana was quiet for a while. How could her grandson do that? She could still remember when he was a little boy and she had to change his diapers. Now he was going to be changing his own child's. "Ephram, are you sure?"  
"Yes," Ephram said looking into Nana's eyes even though he would rather be looking at the ground. "And Lilly and I are going to raise her, the baby. I just thought you would want to know about her, she would be your great-grandchild. Even if you don't think it's right and you never speak to her or see her, you need to know about her,"  
Nana looked at Ephram, "Of course I would support your decision, but I don't have to agree with it,"  
Ephram sighed and nodded. He couldn't expect everything from her, and he was glad that she would support his choice. Soon they walked back inside. Pappy looked at his wife but she shook her head, she didn't want to tell him until later. Ephram walked back over to Lilly, who was sitting on the couch next to Delia looking through old baby pictures.  
"Oh my god Ephram, you were such a cute baby. Why didn't you tell me?" she said when he sat next to her.  
"Well that isn't something you normally bring up on a normal basis, 'Hey pass the salt and I was a really cute baby.' See that just doesn't work," he said jokingly.  
"You are such a smart-a...aleck," she said starting to get extremely interested with a picture of Andy holding a diploma.  
Ephram laughed at her and started looked through the pictures with them. "We should add some pictures of you Lilly,"  
Lilly looked up at him, "I don't have any pictures of me, except for a few that I brought with me, and those are just stupid pictures my friends and I took,"  
"Those are perfect, you're acting like yourself. I'll go get them," with that Ephram got up to retrieve Lilly's pictures.  
Lilly rolled her eyes and kept looking through the photo album. She saw a picture of Julia and it caught her attention. It was her wedding day and she was posing for the camera. She was beautiful in her long white gown and smiling widely. You could tell she couldn't wait to soon become Mrs. Andrew Brown. Lilly smiled at the photograph and then realized that the rest of the room was looking at the picture as well. Nana's eyes were starting to tear up as well as Pappy's. Andy smiled at the picture with great sadness in his eyes and Delia looked as happy as her mother. It was then that Lilly noticed how much Delia looked like her mother, as well as Ephram. When Ephram got downstairs, Lilly tried to turn the page quickly so he wouldn't see her picture. She could tell that he was still sensitive about his mother's death, and she didn't want to pick scabs.  
"I found some really good ones," he said walking over and handing them to Lilly.  
Lilly laughed at the choices he had made. There was one where she was a fat forty-year-old woman in a school play, one where she was at a dance recital, and another with a bunch of friends. The one that she liked the best though, was the one of their first kiss.  
  
The week flew by and soon Nana and Pappy were gone. The month went by quickly and soon it was the Winter Break. Lilly was ready for the break and was counting the minutes to when it came. As soon as she got home from the last day of school she immediately grabbed a few candles, a book, and a CD player and locked herself up in the bathroom for an hour-long bath.  
"Family unit, I have some news," said Andy when he came home. By that time Lilly had gotten out of the tub and her hair was still in a towel sitting on top of her head.  
"What?" said Ephram sitting at the kitchen table.  
"We are going on vacation over the break. We need to get away. I made the arrangements at work today. We're leaving tomorrow," Andy said with a big smile on his face.  
"Where are we going?" said Delia.  
Andy slapped a brochure down on the table and everyone leaned in to see it. On the cover was a happy couple sitting on the beach in a hammock and above there heads was the words: Malibu.  
"Wow dad, you might have actually made a good decision on a vacation," said Ephram picking up the brochure. "For a second there I thought we were going to have to go camping again."  
"Now go pack, we are leaving early in the morning. If you're not ready by then, you might as well not come," said Andy snatching the brochure from Ephram.  
Everyone ran up stairs and Lilly's towel started to fall off of her head but she just yanked it off and threw it in the laundry room. Ephram ran into his room, pulled out his suitcase, and started to pack everything in his closet and then finally stuffing his swimming trunks into the overly full stuffed bag. He tried to zip up the bag but it was impossible.  
"Lilly!" he shouted when he tried to zip it by laying on it.  
Lilly ran in the room with her wet hair curling up to her face. "What?"  
"Sit on my bag," he said pointing at his suitcase. She sat on the suitcase and then he easily zipped it up.  
Ephram picked up the suitcase and ran downstairs with it, even though it felt like it was ripping out his arm from its socket. He flipped the trunk of his car up and shoved the suitcase in it. He felt triumphant for being the first one finished and he walked back into the living room. He proped his feet up on the table in front of the couch and relaxed until everyone else was finished.  
"So, how long are we going to stay?" Lilly asked as she snuggled up to Ephram.  
"For two weeks," said Andy, who had finished packing after Ephram.  
Eventually everyone became tired of talking about what they were going to do when they got down there, so everyone went to bed.  
  
The next morning everyone woke early, partly because they were excited about leaving, and partly because they were still use to getting up early for school. When everyone was ready they packed the extra things that everyone needed, then they took off. Ephram and Lilly rode in Ephram's car, and Andy and Delia in the family car. Ephram had talked Andy into letting him drive driving down there, because they needed extra space to hold suitcases, but really he wanted to be alone with Lilly. When they got to the airport they all took their seats on the plane and soon they were off the ground when they landed an hour after they took off everyone scrambled off the plane. After they had checked into the hotel everyone went to get on their swimsuits. When they were ready they went to the pool, where everyone else down there had a perfect tan. Lilly finally became conscious of her pale legs and stomach. She used to have a tan like they did, but since she moved to Everwood she hadn't been to a tanning bed and wasn't even sure they had one. Lilly rolled her eyes and forgot it. She took hold of Ephram's hand and they walked into the pool together. They played the whole day and Andy, who was getting terribly sunburned, finally pulled them out of the pool. Ephram begged Andy if he and Lilly could go out to eat together by themselves. Andy finally gave in and gave them some money.  
Lilly and Ephram got dressed and took the rental car Andy had gotten. Ephram drove around for a while and finally found a worthy place. Ephram helped Lilly out of the car and noticed how burned she had gotten, her nose was pink as well as her legs. He laughed at the way the once subtle freckles on her face stood out.  
"What?" she said giving him evil eyes.  
"Nothing, you just look like an apple," he said closing the door behind her.  
Lilly shoved him and then they walked into the restaurant.  
"So, what do want to do after we eat?" Ephram said after they were seated.  
"Well, I saw this amusement park, and I thought we could go back and get Delia and go. What do you think?" said Lilly.  
"Sounds good, Delia would like that. Dad probably would to, free time. Can you believe we're here?" he said.  
"I know it seems like this is happening so quickly. It feels like five minutes ago we were in Everwood," said Lilly. Then suddenly she gasped  
"What?" Ephram said.  
Lilly didn't say anything, but slowly sunk into her seat, looking over Ephram's shoulder. "Don't say my name,"  
Ephram looked at her like she was crazy and looked over his shoulder. He saw a guy standing there and he looked familiar. Where did he know him? Then it dawned on him; it was one of Lilly's ex-boyfriends from her pictures. Ephram sunk into his seat too, even though he knew that the guy wouldn't recognize him. It was useless though, the man turned and saw Lilly and walked over.  
Lilly groaned and sat up putting on a fake smile. "Hey Josh,"  
"Lilly, how are you? How long has it been since I last saw you?" Josh, a jock type guy, had broad shoulders and sandy blonde hair. He was pretty tall and had a smile that reminded Ephram of Delia's Ken dolls.  
"About two years, you look good. How are you?" she said. You could tell she didn't like telling him he looked good. What she really wanted to say was that he looked like Hell spat him back up, but that wasn't very friendly was it?  
"I am doing wonderfully. School is going great and I was just down here on vacation. Is that why you are here?" he said with his extremely fake smile.  
"Yeah. Oh my God, I can't believe I didn't introduce you. Josh this is Ephram, Ephram this is my ex-boyfriend Josh. Ephram is my new boyfriend," she said hoping that he wouldn't want them to meet anywhere or something.  
"Charmed, anyway, so are you here for long because we could meet sometime and catch up. I'm afraid I'm about to have to leave I have an important business meeting," he said barely paying attention to Ephram.  
"Oh, damn, we've been here for like a week now and we're going to leave tomorrow. Too bad," said Lilly looking at Ephram hoping he wouldn't say anything.  
"Oh well that is too bad, well give your mother my love. Merry Christmas," he said and with that he left.  
"You lied. What happened to the epitome of morale rectitude crap? I think I might have to renounce your title," said Ephram when Josh had left.  
"Oh, do you want me to call him back and tell him we'll meet him tomorrow?" she said.  
"You know, that wasn't really a lie it was more of a, white lie," he said.  
Lilly laughed, "I'm so sorry, he is such a jerk. He has always like that. I wanted to slap him, he is so fake!"  
"How could you ever date a guy like that?" said Ephram. The waiter came though and they ordered, after he left Lilly finally answered.  
"He wanted to be a doctor and he was a very good friend of the family. I thought he was the perfect guy, because he had goals and a career ahead of him, but I wasn't happy with him. So we broke up," Lilly said sitting back and touching her shoulders, which were badly burned. "Thank God you're nothing like him,"  
"I have goals," said Ephram, kind of offended.  
"That's not what I meant. I meant you're not a jerk like him; he probably doesn't have a business meeting. He probably has like a booty call or something. I should never say booty call, should I?" Lilly said sitting up and grabbing Ephram's hand.  
"No, it doesn't sound right on you. But really, do you think I have a future or do you think I'm some guy who can play a piano really well? This is what I want to do, I don't have a back up plan," Ephram said.  
"Ephram, I know you have a future. You are so talented, and you are going to blow everyone away when they hear you play," Lilly said, "Now can we drop this? Josh always made me argue, even before we dated."  
Ephram nodded and sat back. He looked out the window next to where they were sitting. He could see the ocean and he felt like leaving and going to walk on the shore.  
When they finished eating they took off and went to pick up Delia. Delia was ecstatic about going to the amusement park and immediately went to go find some clothes, since she hadn't changed out of her swimsuit yet. They went to the park and rode the rides until the park closed. They were exhausted from their full day and couldn't wait to get back to the hotel where they could sleep. On the way back, Delia fell asleep on Lilly's arm.  
Ephram carried her up to their room and placed her on her bed.  
"Goodnight," Ephram said to Lilly when they had tucked her in.  
"Night," she said and she stood on her toes to kiss him.  
Ephram wrapped his arms around her middle and Lilly put her arms around his neck. After Ephram pulled away he kissed Lilly on the forehead and she went to her bed to sleep.  
  
The next morning Andy woke at ten in the morning to the phone ringing. He answered it to hear that they had the wrong number. Andy rolled over and tried to sleep longer, but wasn't able to, so he woke everyone else up. They all groaned at him but woke up anyway. They all dressed and went downstairs to see if there was any breakfast. They sat down at a table at the restaurant downstairs and waited to be served. Lilly was still tired and didn't talk to anyone.  
"Oh my God!" she finally said and then ducked down low. "What is he a stalker or something?"  
Ephram looked in the direction she was staring and there was Josh. "Is he staying here?"  
"I don't know! I just wish he would leave!" she said in a whisper.  
Andy and Delia looked in the direction Ephram had looked.  
"Was that your boyfriend?" Delia said when she saw him.  
"Yes," said Ephram. "We saw him last night at the restaurant,"  
Josh looked in their direction, and then he noticed Lilly. He smiled widely and waved. He started to walk over and visit and Lilly groaned.  
"Hello Lilly, what a small world. So are you leaving after breakfast?" Josh said when he reached the table.  
"We're not leaving for another two weeks," piped up Delia. She didn't really like Josh, so she jumped at the chance of proving him wrong.  
"I'm sorry, I must have been misinformed. Lilly, you were always day dreamy like that, not listening to what was going on," Josh said to Lilly as if she was a child. She was surprised he hadn't shaken his finger at her, and then he did shake his finger at her.  
"Josh this is Dr. Andrew Brown, and his daughter Delia. Andy is Ephram's dad," Lilly said through gritted teeth.  
Josh looked at Andy with wide eyes, "You are that brain surgeon. I read the article where you brought that kid in Colorado out of a coma. You are amazing,"  
Andy stood up and shook his hand, "Very nice to meet you. Would you like to sit with us?"  
"Oh, I do need to leave, but how about I meet you all here for lunch at around two?" Josh said checking his palm pilot.  
"That's just...wonderful," Andy said sitting down.  
Josh left and waved goodbye and Lilly put her head in her hands. "Great, now I have to spend time with that creep," 


	22. An Ending

Disclaimer: Everwood Characters: You don't own me! I'm not just one of your own stories! You don't own me! So stop trying to think that you are smart! BabababababaBA!  
  
The rest of the vacation went rather smoothly, except for the several meetings with Josh, and when the two weeks were over everyone packed to go home and sadly got on the plane.  
The next few moths went by and it was finally time for Madison to have the baby. Ephram became nervous. The day finally came when they got the call.  
Ephram was sitting at home flipping through the channels. He heard the phone ring and he got up to answer, "Hello?"  
"Hello, is this Ephram Brown?" asked a voice on the other end.  
"Yes," Ephram knew that he was going to be getting a call when Madison was in labor so the professional voice made him nervous.  
"You are needed down here at the Denver Hospital. Your baby is being born," with that the woman hung up and Ephram was left standing there.  
"Lilly, Dad, Delia, its time!" Ephram took off up stairs and grabbed Lilly pulling her down the stairs. They hurried to the car and took off immediately. Ephram sped down the highway and made it to Denver in two hours.  
He barely waited for Lilly to get out of the car as he ran to the front desk. He finally found the room and went in to help Madison with giving birth.  
Lilly waited in the waiting room biting her lip and trying to find the news interesting. When that didn't work she flipped through a few magazines on the table next her, but she still couldn't keep her mind off of Madison and Claire. Eventually Andy and Delia had made it the hospital, since he didn't go quite as fast as Ephram it took longer for him to get there.  
"Is everything okay?" said Andy as he walked into the waiting room and took a seat next to Lilly.  
"I don't know. They haven't told me anything. I guess they would if anything was wrong wouldn't they?" Lilly said thankful to have someone to talk to.  
Andy just shrugged and picked up a newspaper.  
After waiting for what seemed like hours, they saw a doctor coming out of the emergency room.  
"You're son has a beautiful new baby girl. She is healthy, except for her lip and palate. You can go and see her in a little while," with that the doctor turned and went back to the room. Soon Ephram came out of the room in a hospital gown over his clothes. He had a huge smile on his face and he skipped up and hugged Lilly.  
"Did you hear? Oh my God, you have to come see her," Ephram led everyone to the room and saw Madison lying on the hospital bed with a baby in her arms.  
Madison looked rough, but extremely happy with the bundle in her arms. She didn't even look up when Andy and Lilly, Delia was made to stay in the waiting room, came into the room. She talked sweet little nothings to the girl.  
"Madison, can I hold her?" Ephram said sitting next to Madison.  
Madison smiled and gingerly handed him the baby. Ephram scooped the little girl in his arms and smiled down at her.  
"Everyone, meet Claire Madison Brown," Ephram said walking over to Andy and Lilly. Ephram, true fatherly style, grabbed Claire's hand and waved her hand at them.  
Andy walked over to Ephram and smiled at the little girl. He noticed immediately the girls lip, but he knew that it would fine. It wasn't as bad as some of the pictures he had seen, and in those pictures the baby looked completely normal afterwards. Lilly smiled at her and then looked back up at Ephram. He looked like he had never been happier. He was smiling down at the girl and played with her hand. Soon a doctor walked into the room and took Claire from Ephram, they needed to feed her and to do that they had to put a tube down her nose. When Claire was gone he turned to Lilly.  
"Oh, my God, I've never seen something so beautiful in my life. How can I love something so much that I haven't known but for an hour?" Ephram said with a huge grin on his face.  
Andy spoke up, "I thought the same thing when the doctor put you in my hands,"  
Ephram looked at his dad and smiled. He turned to Lilly and smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "We have gotten way over our heads,"  
Lilly laughed. "Definitely, but I think we're going to make it through. If Madison still wants to leave that is,"  
Everyone looked at Madison who was silently staring at everyone. "I can't stay, but what I will do is visit every weekend. I don't think I could stay away from Claire that long,"  
Ephram walked over to Madison and laid his hand on her. He saw what he never thought could be possible. He saw a human life come out of her, and he knew she must feel like hell. "You are welcome for as long as you want to be there. We just want you to have a good life."  
Madison smiled and moved her hand from underneath his. Ephram walked back over to Lilly and kissed her cheek.  
  
After being in the hospital a couple of days, everyone was able to go home. Claire came home with Ephram and was a nightmare the first three months of her life. She got her lip surgery and the Brown's were finally able to go to sleep. Eventually Claire started to walk and had her final surgery. When Ephram and Lilly graduated from high school they were both accepted to Julliard. During the first year of college, they started to plan their wedding. They were married the same day that Ephram's parents were married. They both worked hard and never grew apart. They had three kids between them, named Amarilly, Jacob, and Rebekkah. After years of silence, Lilly finally came to speaking terms with her mother, and they are now best friends. Claire grew up knowing about the story of her mother and father, and grew to love both parents unconditionally. She treated Lilly just as she would a real mother, but always called her by her actual name, so she wouldn't offend anyone. Delia grew up to be a famous baseball player and married a nice young man that was on the team with her. Andy never left Everwood, even with all off his family sprinkled across the country. After many years of dating, he married Nina. Madison was able to achieve her career goals by becoming a famous singer, even though her band wasn't included in the contract deal. Bright lived near Ephram, who was living in New York, and became a great lawyer, believe it or not. He had worked his tale off in college and went to law school. Amy finally got over Ephram, met a nice man, and moved far away from Everwood, only to think about it again when she wrote a book about a little town full of drama and laughs.  
  
Irv closed his journal and set it to the side. He had been writing the story for ages it seemed, and now it was finally over. He pushed it over and smiled at his sleeping wife. He crawled up next to her and he fell asleep against, for the last time ever.  
  
There, the last installment. I know kind of a sad note with Irv's death, but I think it tied off all of the loose ends. Thank you to all who have been following my story, you guys are great and I love you all. I felt it was time I finished the story because it was getting way too long. Again I love you all and thanks for reading. 


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